What’s so interesting about The Edge’s guitar delay?

Most of us won’t ever play in a U2 tribute band or try to cover a U2 song in the studio, but
discovering how The Edge uses his ‘trademark’ guitar delay is not limited to that.
How his delay sounds and how he uses them are a great resource for any serious guitar
player.
Out of curiosity, I studied the audio tracks closely and calculated the exact
settings he used for that song and others and I found out that the real answer is a little more interesting.
That’s good news though: maybe the reason that The Edge sounds a little better than you when he plays ‘Streets’
is because of his ‘secrets’ that are revealed here.
Hopefully it will help you think a little bit differently about how you use delay in your own songs.

What is this site all about?

Here is a clip of the main guitar riffs from U2’s songs “Bad” and “Where the Streets Have No Name”.
Each riff starts with the exact thing Edge is playing on his guitar during the song
and then the delay/echo is turned on half way through, resulting in the sound you know:

Clip from “Bad”
Clip from “Streets”

Note: This page is strictly limited to discussion about The Edge’s delay times. Occassionally I mention
other things like the modulation effect of the SDD-3000 delay unit and I include some tablature as needed.

Primarily (and as best as possible), I try to discuss why and how Edge chooses certain delays for given songs, hopefully to give some ideas to other
players who want to understand the core ideas and theories behind them to use in their own original songs.

Edge splits his guitar signal (after his effects chain) and sends them into 2 separate amps:

Edge often uses the Korg SDD-3000 delay units; the TC-2290s, as used on ‘Streets’, are pictured above.

Sending the
different delays to separate amps allows more control when
mixing the songs -- you can vary the levels, or send 1 delay to the left and another to the right. Edge/U2
do this in a few songs. There’s more info below about the stereo mixing for some songs. I believe that usually,
the initial (dry) signal is sent into both amps by both delay units. However, in some cases, one amps may be used for
the initial signal only (ie no delay) and the other may just have the delays (ie no dry signal). Anytime where
the delay is clearly panned separately from the main signal, this would be the case (such as ‘An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart’).

The ‘real’ delays (150ms-550ms, almost always set in tempo with the song)

Delays make up a big part of Edge’s sound.
He uses modulated delays which add a vibrato/chorus effect to the delay repeats. In most songs, he uses 2 long delays
in parallel set to different tempos and sends them to different amps, as in the diagram above.

His Korg SDD-3000s are mostly used for the long delays. Though the SDD-3000 is a digital delay (it allows you to exactly dial in the delay length
which is crucial), the modulation section of it adds a nice warmth. He splits usually his signal at the end of his
other effects chains and runs it into 2 SDD-3000s. Those feed directly into his amps (usually Vox AC30s).
One reason he does this is to make use of the +10dB output on the SDD-3000s, as Daniel Lanois explained in the quote below.

See the above picture - that will make the explanation a lot clearer.
Since sound travels through air at around 1.11 feet per millisecond (at normal temperatures), moving a microphone a few feet back from a sound source will delay by a few milliseconds how long it takes
for the sound to get to the mic.

When Edge has 2 amplifiers
mic’ed up by 2 microphones that are 5 feet apart (either in the studio or on stage), he hits a note and then:

The guitar sound comes out of amplifier A

The guitar sound hits the microphone that is in front of Amp A

About 5ms later, the sound has traveled 5 feet and hits the microphone in front of Amp B.
(Or, when playing live, the vocal mics pick up the amps’ sound. At least on the Joshua Tree tour, the
vocal mics were about 20 feet from the amps which explains the 20ms echoes in the Rattle and Hum version of ‘Streets’).

If the mic for Amp A is panned left and the mic for Amp B is panned right, then that one single note
will hit the left channel and then 5ms later will ‘echo’ - albeit quieter - in the right channel.

Sometimes he puts a mic behind one of his amps. If he’s using 3 mics that way (2 in front of both amps and 1 behind the
main one), then putting the mic 5 feet behind the main amp and keeping the two amps ten feet apart would give
the main attack and the 5ms and 10ms delays after it, which matches close to what most of the tracks look like.

If the initial signal comes out of Amp A and B at the same time, then both of their mics will record the initial signal
and both will record about a 5ms ‘echo’ when they pick up the sound coming from the others’ amplifier after it
travels over to them.

Is this important? I don’t know how much of a difference this makes to Edge’s overall sound. But when
I slowed the songs down to calculate the ‘real’ delays, I could hear these shorter echoes very clearly.
These echoes were probably accidental, but they do influence his sound and help to give it a bigger, more stereo feel.

You can hear this effect especially well in the Rattle and Hum version of ‘Streets’.
On that page, listen to the clip slowed down 8x and you’ll hear - for each of the 3 notes (the initial note
and the 2 repeats) - 1 or 2 short echoes around it. Note that the echoes bounce left to right. This is actually probably
Edge and Bono’s vocal mics (20 and 40 feet away from the amps, respectively).
One mic is panned left, the other right.

There may also be some room echo present in some of the studio recordings (especially ‘Wire’ and ‘Bad’ and other
songs recorded in the castle for ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ -- the rooms they recorded in probably added a lot of echo).

Finally, they may also put extra mics behind the amps or a few feet away from the amps when recording and if these would
of course also produce the same slight echo effect.

How can I emulate this echo effect in my own recordings without using 2 amps/2 mics?
It’s simple - take a single guitar track that you’ve recorded from
one microphone. Make a copy of it and move the copy back by about 5ms (the simplest way is to just shift it to the right by that amount
in Sonar, Cubase, or ProTools - whatever you’re using). Then take the original and pan it slightly left. Take the copy
and pan it slightly right and pull it down a bit in the mix.

Side notes:

Edge’s guitar picks (and holding them correctly) are the key component of his chime-y guitar sound.
Edge’s guitar picks (Herdims) have a dimpled half and a flat half. The dimpled half is supposed to be where you hold the pick
(it gives it a better grip). Apparently Edge holds the pick either backwards or sideways so that
the dimpled part of the pick grates the strings
to sharpen the sound and give it a slightly grating punch - what some people call a ‘chime’ sound.
I studied the effect of the Herdim dimpled picks on a guitar signal and I posted the results here.
Incidentally, people have emailed me saying that Edge started holding his guitar pick backwards because
he never had any formal training and had been doing that incorrectly from early on. He was using the Herdims
at least by the Unforgettable Fire, and perhaps earlier.

Edge uses the open strings a lot as ‘drone’ notes, often the low
A and D strings. This technique is often used in traditional Irish music.
Incidentally, it is probably why many of the songs are in the key of
D and many of the riffs are around a D chord - the D and A strings work best in that key. ‘Bad’ is an obvious example.

Palm muting is also a needed technique if you use a lot of delay.
I think he uses a very slight palm mute in the main riff of ‘Streets’
and obviously in ‘Bad’. To keep the notes sharp and not droning into each
other as the delays echo, you don’t want a lot of sustain.
Try resting your palm just behind the bridge so that part of your palm
slightly touches the strings. You get a more staccato feel and almost
a harmonic quality to the notes too. This technique was used by many of the punk bands which
were early influences on Edge, although they would use it with distortion instead of delay.

Left-hand muting (as in the verses in ‘Streets’) work well to add some breathing room if
you’re using a lot of delay in a song.

Compression? Actually, you don’t need to use it. In most cases, if you’re using a lot of delay,
you probably want rhythmic, staccato-y notes -- the very opposite of what compression gives you (compressors
give you more sustained, legato-y notes). Edge uses a strong compressor (the MXR Dyna Comp pedal, with high output and low senstivity)
whenever he uses a slide (‘Gloria’ solo, ‘Bullet’). There’s some compression added to the overall
guitar track during mixing - doing this on the mixing board is probably the best place to do it since
you have better control over how much to use.

Backing vocals behind guitar solos. Often discordant and turned down in the mix just enough so you
can’t hear them without explicitly listening for them. They color and add depth to his solos not
too disimilarly from the guitar delay. Some examples include:

Quotes about Edge’s delay and creative process:

“Yeah. I started using them [SDD-3000s] shortly after first working with Edge on
The Unforgettable Fire. Basically, I stole his sound. It wasn’t a
complicated rig: just a guitar he liked through a Korg SDD-3000 digital
delay into a Vox. Three components, mono - that’s it. The great thing
about the Korgs is its three-position level switch, which lets you hit the
amp with about 10 extra dB. It’s more overdriven than if you just plugged
the guitar straight into the amp, even when it’s on bypass. But a lot of
the guitar sounds on Achtung Baby were recorded through a Korg A3 effects
processor.” - Daniel Lanois,
‘Guitar Player’, 1993 (‘U2 Producer & 6-String Wizard Daniel Lanois Says You Don’t Need Big Money To
Make Big Music’)

“I’ve found so many guitar parts from using the echo - it’s limitless.
The biggest difference between me and other players is that I don’t use effects
to color my parts. I create guitar parts using effects. They’re a crucial
element of what I do so I don’t consider them a crutch... They’re a part of the art.”
- Edge, ‘Total Guitar’, 2005

“I remember feeling, well, can I write? Am I a writer? Or
am I just a guitarist?...
When you go past a managed forest, you see a mass
of treetrunks.
Then at a cetain point, you look again and you realize
they’re all in perfect rows. Clarity, clarity of vision.
What you’ve been looking at from the wrong angle and not seeing
at all. You labor, you sweat, to see what you couldn’t have
seen from that other perspective. I just remember
scrambling to put it down before that moment passes and fades.
And picking up the guitar and that’s what I came out
with [Sunday Bloody Sunday].”
- Edge, reflecting on moments of self-questioning pre-War album,
from the film It May Get Loud, 2008

“GW: Onstage you use a short delay and a long delay together. What’s the story behind that combination? The Edge: They work together to become a part of one delay sound. When I use two delays, I like to mess
with the pitch modulation of the delay signal. It increases the depth of the sound and gives it a tremendous
3-D sensation. But straight slapback echo with no modulation isn’t very inspiring; the shape of the
sound doesn’t change” - ‘Guitar World’, September, 2005 [Incidentally, I think the ‘Guitar World’ interviewer visited this site
to get material for his questions..]

“Everybody’s going to remember your songs, it’s just that nobody’s gonna be able to play them” - Bob Dylan (in
reference to Edge’s delay-ridden riffs)

“... I became the timekeeper with the band for a while, and Larry would play to me, because everything had to sync with my
echo- you can hear that in “Pride,” for example. Eventually we made a decision to leave out the echo on War, and the guitar
became much more dry and forceful. That sound reappeared, in a sense, on Unforgettable Fire, because of the Hawaiian guitar [a 1939 Epiphone Electar lap steel, as heard on ‘Surrender’],
but in any case, the guitar treatments almost always came out of things that I was doing.” - The Edge, ‘Musician’ magazine, 1986.

The Songs and their Delay Settings

Boy (1980) / October (1981)

Edge used a 225ms delay (1-2 repeats, slightly audible)
for all songs on the ‘Boy’ tour. During this time, he used
an EH Memory Man Deluxe, which has a range of 5ms-550ms.
The Memory Man units vary by model and year, but for what it’s worth, here
is a rough outline of its settings:

225ms (used most of the time) is at the 3rd ‘mark’ out of 8 total on the delay knob, clockwise from
the bottom (40% of the knob’s full turn).

140ms (used for the album version of An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart) is at the 2nd mark (25%).

280ms (used for the album version of The Electric Co.) is at the 4th mark (50%).

What type of songs work well with this setting?
3/16th delay adds depth and rhythm to a guitar part, especially when you play
in even time: straight 1/8th or 1/16th notes. Looking at the key riffs for the songs in this
group, they are almost all played in even time (from ‘Electric Co’ to ‘Walk On’). Arpeggios are
effective.
String bends don’t usually work well.
If you use the delay heavily (as in ‘Bad’ or ‘Streets’), keep your playing very simple: for example, ‘Bad’ is 2 sets of 3 notes
repeated over and over. ‘Streets’ is a 4-note arpeggio. Use left-hand string
mutes to add breathing room.
You’ll almost never use more than 1-2 repeats
and it is usually present throughout the song.
This delay setting has a strong influence on the character and sound of a song!

Electric Co (275ms)
Stranger in a Strange Land main riff (360ms)
Surrender slide solo (400 ms)
A Sort of Homecoming (375ms)
Pride (418ms - panned right)
Wire (317ms)
-
Bad (467ms) See the '2 delay' section belowStreets (350ms) See the '2 delay' section below
Still Haven’t Found (450ms) See the '2 delay' section below
With or Without You (410ms)
-
In God’s Country intro and solo (360ms)
One Tree Hill (360ms)
Spanish Eyes (310ms)
Heartland (420ms)
Silver and Gold (360ms)
Even Better TTRT (345ms - louder during slide solo)
One solo/outro (500ms)
Until the End of the World (420ms, softly)
The Fly intro/solo (415ms)
Mysterious Ways (450ms, very softly)
Ultraviolet (Light My Way) (400ms, panned right)
Discotheque - main riff and bridge (372ms)
Please outro 4:01-end (440ms, 6-7 repeats) (there's 2 guitars, only one has delay)
Walk On (420ms) See the '2 delay' section below
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own (475ms)
City of Blinding Lights rhythm guitar (320ms)

Songs that use 4/16 (1/4) delay:

What type of songs work well with this setting?
4/16th delay works well with simple, sparse riffs, such as the 1 chord going into the ‘New Year’s Day’ chorus,
or a couple of notes played slowly, as in the ‘Miracle Drug’ intro. Typically used sparingly in certain sections of a song.
Works well with 2 or more repeats.

What type of songs work well with this setting?
1/8th delay adds a slight urgency to a guitar track. It works well with multiple repeats. While audible as a delay,
it fades into the background and does not affect the character of a song - this is a ‘boring’ delay. Edge
uses it rarely, probably when a song is already becoming too busy and a delay with more character (like the 3/16th) would
clutter it up too much. ‘I Will Follow’ is a good example. When he does use it, it's often only during a guitar solo,
background fills, or a bridge.

Additional delay times and settings:

Songs that use a 1/3 of a ‘quarter note triplet’ = 1/6 * delay:

What type of songs work well with this setting?
Edge uses this delay rarely and usually very soft in the mix and
panned to the right. It has an unsettling
and distressing feel - the ‘delay’ equivalent of a Major 7th chord. I doubt
if Edge uses this setting purposely, he probably dials it in for these couple of songs based on feel.
This delay feels somewhat ‘off’ and that’s probably what he was looking for.
After all, for most of ‘Bullet’, Adam’s playing an ‘E’ in the bass while Edge plays a ‘G’ chord - discordant indeed.
For the ‘All I Want Is You’ solo, he also plays a discordant and out-of-key note (a high ‘C’ over a D chord/key of D).
This delay setting is between an 1/8th and 3/16th delays (slightly closer to 3/16).

Bullet the Blue Sky - slide parts + solo - album version (533ms - softly, panned right)
Bullet the Blue Sky is at 75bpm. He used about 400ms during the Joshua Tree tour (Rattle and Hum version) and at the Slane Castle show (including the wah-wah solo section,
where he turned it up), which is a 1/8th delay. Usually 2-3 repeats, mixed softly.
The delay on the album is very soft. You can hear it best in the slight feedback
note at 34.25 seconds if you slow the track down 2x or 4x.)
He turns the delay off during the slide-free rhythmic verse/chorus sections.
All I Want Is You solo (425ms)
(*) There are 2 ‘quarter note triplets’ per bar, both with 3 notes each. So this is delay
time is equivalent to 1/6 of the length of a bar. See the AIWIY page for more info. See theWhat Is.. section below for information on calculating this delay time in your own songs.

Songs that use a 3/32 delay:
Crumbs From Your Table (260ms @ 86 bpm)
Since ‘Crumbs’ is so slow, Edge chose to use a delay that is twice as fast as his usual 3/16 delay - it has a similar effect.
If you use the Line 6 pedal (see below), set it to the above setting and tap 1/8th notes instead of 1/4 notes -
in other words, tap twice as fast as usual to set the tempo.

Songs that use a 3/8 delay:
The Unforgettable Fire (666ms @ 135 bpm)
Same as above (for 3/32), but twice as slow as the 3/16. There is very
little guitar in the song, and this delay mostly affects occassional fills.

Songs that chain together 2 delays:
Exit: 1/8 (250ms) with 3-4 repeats panned right is the main delay on all guitars. However, on the guitar track that you hear during the fade out (and on that track throughout the song, the track has this delay first and the track is then fed
into another delay at 3/4 (1650 ms = 1.65 secs!) with 1-2 repeats. Both delays are soft, both are panned right. The 1.65 sec delay was probably added during mixing
to the entire guitar track. (Similar to the ‘End of the World’ solo (see below).
Zooropa: 1/8 (320ms) with 6-7 later repeats at 1/16 (160ms)

Earlier songs with a generic 225ms ‘slapback’ echo:
11 O’Clock Tick Tock
Out of Control
Rejoice
With a Shout(See note on left side)

Edge has historically always used the Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Deluxe (Boy and October albums)
or the Korg SDD-3000s which were made in the mid-1980s and are occassionally available
on eBay (though at high prices often). Since the Joshua Tree, he’s also used
two TC Electronic 2290 delay racks since they have more user presets than the SDD-3000s.

Today, the Line 6 Delay Modeler units are among the best
delay available. (Edge has been seen using one of them in 2004.) The 3 models are:

Studio / Rack version: Hard to find, I’m not sure if they are
still available. $700 US. Sometimes available on eBay. This lets you dial in specific delay times, has 99 user presets, and is MIDI-controllable (if that’s helpful).

Echo Park stompbox (see photo at left): No presets, but has the same sound (I believe) as the other 2. $150 US.

In any of the units, you should use the ‘Digital’ delay setting for long delays. And most important - use just enough ‘Mod’ so that it’s audible
but not overpowering. The Echo Park stompbox has a nice option, the ‘Dotted 8th note Tap’ (3rd option up from the bottom left -
see the circled knob in the photo at left). This is the 3/16th
note delay that Edge so often uses. In this setting, tap the stombox to the beat/tempo of a song and then the delay repeats will be at 3/16.

"How do I play Streets using the Echo Park pedal"? I’m emailed this
question occassionally, so here’s a starting point: Choose ‘Digital’ in the switch at the bottom left. Trails on (or off, doesn’t
matter).
Mix at about 10-11 o’clock.
Repeat should be set so you get a clear repeat and 1 soft one.
(Don’t use the Time knob, it can be set anywhere.)
Mod should be about 12-3 o’clock, use your ear.
Set the main knob to the dotted 8th note setting (3rd one up from bottom left).
Then tap the tempo of speed you’re playing at (it’s 1 tap for every other note you
play in the main riff).

What about Boss’s DD-20 pedal?
I don’t know - if you’ve tried its modulated delay, leave a comment below.

Your Comments

Hi...and thanks for all your precious study about edge's delay effects. I've
been very involved to learn how edge create his own special delay set-up. I've
tried on my set-up and ...wow sounds great!! I'm trying to focus my attention
during these years on the EQ that Edge always use on his sounds...a sort of
mid boost type I guess... Did you try to study also the EQ'ing in the future?
I hope so ... Thanks again for all your work. Regards Fabrizio from Italy

very impressive. must say i never expected this to be so complex. good work. it
seems to me though, that in, i suppose what you'd call the "solo" of "one" at
the very end (from about 3:35 to the end), there seems to be the 3/16's delay.
its also very noticeable on the slane castle dvd.

i recently began work to recreate edges delay similar to the one heard in
'where the streets have no name." Im using a boss DD3 delay with the 3/16 temp
at 340- 550ms. Iv notices that some is just missing. maybe its the panning
split (A/B split of the 2 AC30's) or maybe the DD3 just isnt sutable.

This is a Great piece of research on the edge, his delay effects really are
brilliant, but I was wondering if anyone knows what effect he is using when he
plays the solo part on Discotheque with that odd distortion.thanks.

This is the most thought out explanation I have ever seen. What a great job you
have done in defining Dave Evans sound. Also curious what modulation pedals and
eq "The Edge uses with this type setup. Regards.

Thanks for your study of "The edge" guitar tone. I have been working on this
for some time but limited by proper equipment and not enough time on my hands.
There something about that tone that makes me want to play my guitar. Just got
my copy of "vertigo" keep up the good work work.

Awesome study...I can't tell you how many guitar players I've asked to help me
figure out how to create "the edge's" sound...and none of them had an answer.
Of love the delay...there are so many cool things you can do with it. 'The
Edge' has obviously capitalized on this one effect.

Thanks to your website, I've strung together some effects that are getting me
very close to Edge's sound. If you don't have analog delay w/modulation, you
can't really get there. I have run a Boss digital delay for the short delay,
into a Boss DD20 Gigadelay (use the setting for modulation), into a Line 6 DL4
(analog w/modulation setting) and am getting some great Edge- like sounds.
Adding compression really helps. Keep posting songs to the site - keeps us
guitar players motivated out here!

Hi my name is carlos . You are missing some very important tips on how The edge uses his delays.
I looked at your site and i think it is impressive but the key to edges delay's regardless of wether he is using digital korgs
or the memory man is not entirelly on the units mod settings . as you recentely hear all the new u2 songs are not using any
analog delays at all they are using digital delays and i dont hear any korgs in there at all
Here is the secret on how edge has fooled everyone, even if you had his entire delay racks you still would not sound like him. i can take any delay box and set it to 409 ms and play 2 different sounds on the same guitar with nothing being changed, and
i do this while playing live i have been asked how it is being done i dont tell anyone.(we play with the lights low lol ;o) )
there is no switching at all and this is how the edge has been so good with his effects

If you want to sound like the edge then it is not just his delays you need also his Parametric eq's also he uses Eventide
hardware.
Now this sounds crazy but how come it is easier to play new u2 songs? well simple the units are more cheaper now and more
people can afford them
but in the 80's it was different i mean call Korg up and they will deny that they used to sell the Korg SDD -2000 and 3000
units lol funny
the roland space echo is what made u2's sound. in the beginning the edge did not use tape delay as most people believe.
he started out using a roland space echo like unit.later on he started using tape delay then later on came the EH memory man
wich he ran :

boss od pedals and pam eq's not very complicated..
But boy that was an impressive guitar tone he had that night awesome..
lets just face it in the 80's edge was the best guitar player around he had playing skills cause there werent many effects on
his rig yet.Up untill 1985 edge didnt change much his setup until the korgs(sdd-2000 and 3000) came in .. Digital delay but
with mod section i am planning to get one from my buddy in new zealand.
Edge does not like to muddy his sound with too much delay period!!!!!!. delay is to be used properly to get a clean tone.

Now a mistery that i want to know what was edge's delay unit for Live aid 1985 when he played "Bad" even today i still
couldnt get his delay time cause, before he starts playing he does a sound check and he hits the high 12'th fret B and E
harmonics and you hear only one echo.. but if you add your time to your delay unit You can not get one echo like that sound he
had it is impossible , strangely if you play the song the delay matches his , the thing that is strange here is why is his
test check sound different than the delay time that he then uses to play the song?? he had 2 delay units and switched to his
second that is the only thing i could come up with.

he was using the memory man and another delay unit maybe the korg sdd-2000 at this time i think. now he did play "bad" with
the EH memory man i am 100% sure of that..
Now what confuses people about Edge is that they think he uses Delay units.. that is false he used to use 2 different units an
ECHO/TAPE unit and a DELAY unit.Well he used to
up untill the joshua tree album. this is where it gets crazy this is where edge goes nuts with effects, great songs came out
of it but their live performances suffer big time.and i think this is where u2 had to stop for a bit cause their sound had
been lost now enter the 90's and u2 brought back their old hard rock delayed sounds .after achtung baby u2 ditched their
anthem delay sounds.
and since then till now(only on POP tour "if you wear that velvet dress " "Please" have i heard their old signature delays.

Now onto edges secrets
this is really how edge made THAT U2 SOUND that everyone will never forget!!!!!!..his guitars have always been the secret to
his sounds, i wonder why they are guarded
in secrecy.His old "blackie" fender strat (cbs) era was his main guitar . and he had seymor pickups on them put in ..So edge
dont follow the rules he modifies his guitars a lot
but in the end it is what i always said you must play like him NOT SOUND LIKE HIM!!!!!!! and that is really his main secret
you have to know how he holds his guitar and how he strums the strings,
and how he uses up and down strokes in sinch with his delay or allows the delay to catch up to him. this is very important

lets take a look at the song "bad" album version.. now i made a simple patch on my digitech 2112 sgs processor ( long delay at
409 ms and some reverb ) and predelay and PEQ3 so not very complicated
now u say so how did it sound? well it sounds 97% like the album version of "bad" as it is a clean delay sound with almost no
chorus or any mod on it. but i took the same sound and did my guitar techniques and there it was "Bad" live at live aid sound
. all from playing the guitar differently !!!!!!!! before you get to effects and units you need to know how edge plays his
guitar and what kind of mods has he done to his guitars.

But "Bad" was the best song i ever heard been played live.The live version is 100 times better than the studio albium version
..Only at Live Aid of course every version live since then ijust plain sucks

My little audio work area
Digitech 2112 SGS processor
Edirol Fa-101 firewire interface 24 bit 192 khz 10 in / 10 out was preety cheap
kaysound midi controller keyboard (to play the VST/DX synths)
Cakewalk Sonar 4 Producer Edition ( what can i say supports OLDER HARDWARE midi) unlike other apps wich are cutting back
hardware support like it is candy ......hate that lol
Electro harmonix Memory man Deluxe. delay unit ( i guard this thing with a gun serious !!! well just kidding lol
MidiOverlan midi app and FX Teleport to have different pc's do diferent tasks like effects or virtual synths
and my main VST effect is Amplitube plugin and Native instruments Guitar rig .
Guitars :
Fender stratocaster took some old gibson epyphone body strat style.. lol now it is a strat neck with a gibson strat like
body..

Quote from the best U2 book out there, "U2 At the End of the World" from the
Edge on his guitar tone and influence: "Unfortunately when something is
distilled down to a simple style, those who copy the style basically are
copying something very flat. you take what I do, bring it down to a little,
short formula and try to apply it in another context, another guitar player,
another song - it's going to sound terrible." No one will ever sound like the
Edge. He happened to come across the coolest guitar sound EVER, and now we are
all left to settle for second best. . . Fortunately we can take elements of
The Edge's tone, and combine it with our own ideas to make something unique.

I'd Like to start off by saying excellent work to the writer of this site and
i'm glad it exists to help guitarists (like myself) try to capture the edge's
sound. Now, i'm just confused as to everything in terms of the gear he used. I
totally understand the bpm stuff and the whole explanaation. What i don't
understand and what i need SIMPLIFIED is exactly what effects he used and the
quantity of them the maker of these effects and how to set it up in a live
setting. Now say you cannot find these same effects that the edge used what is
a good replacement and setup that will help recreate his sound. Thanks and God
Bless. PS. i like simple diagrams they help alot

Great job.. and nice pics, too, btw. I remember seeing a guitar mag a long time
ago with an explanation and example of his delay settings and I thought at the
time "I need to remember that". naturally I didn't. Anyway,a apecial thanks for
your demos of the licks with and without delay. I hope someday Henry Rollins
will come around to understanding what Edge was up to. Has anyone run across
something from Edge about not how he played this way, but why? I wonder how and
when he came across it, or if the delay sound just was a match for him.

I think this is a great site by the way, I have not been playing guitar for long but I recently
bought my self a Vox valvetronix AD120VTX modeling combo and a Fender 1970's
Stratocaster, Streets is probabley my most favourite song I thought I had the riff nailed until I
picked up on these coments and now you mention it the delay does sound more warmer, than when I
play it, I did experiment with the different delay on my rig but I guess Im going to have to go
for a Line 6 pod pro XT rack mounted version which is about 399 thats the cheapest Ive seen it
for, if you go on the official Line 6 web site theres a demo of streets that they recreated with
the pod pro rack, which is the main riff, its created with stereo delay by the way, well thats
the way they have done it, Im just thinking is it right sounds okay, but could be a better mix,
anyway I will leave that up to you, when you visit the site. I have seen edge using plenty of line
6 products, he recently!
had a rack mounted distortion unit made for him for the how to dismantle an atomic bomb album
because he was using DM4 distortion modeler to program his tones in. Of course the distortion
units can only hold four preset locations, so he went to line 6 and they made him his very own
rack mounted version with 99 preset programs, I hope they decide to make it available to the
general public. But im definatley going to get a pod xt and a echo pro to go with my vox, great
demo of the intro on streets by the way, but you definatley also need to take into account edge's
playing style, just as one other person on this page commented on. Now I will go and dance!
dance! in the poison rain.

This sure is a fine site. Thanks for all your hardwork Tim and making it
available, I salute you U2 started playing there own songs because they
couldn't play anyone elses, how different it would be if they formed a year
later when they were a bit more trained and started doing shit covers. The
Edge through his lack of knowing has created a sound that noone can ever fully
reconstruct, making this man a genius.

Holding a pick sideways puts more pick on the string, making a slightly thicker
sound. That was the apparent purpose of Edge with holding the pick that way.
He's been doing that since at least 1978/79. See the picture on page 83 in the
book 'U2, The Early Days'. A clean amp cranked 3/4 on or more to get the right
amp tone, with the Electro-Harmonix Memory Deluxe at proper settings gives the
classic Boy era sound. Delay and chorus are used together generally. Electric
Co. from live examples, doesn't seem to use chorus. I Will Follow, Gloria,
Rejoice seem to have the same delay speed - they're the fastest. Stories for
Boys and Out of Control, faintly slower. Twilight, An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart
slightly slightly slower, 11 O'clock Tick Tock sounds good at both of the last
two speeds - either Out of Control speed or Twilight speed. If you don't get
the natural, more or less, slightly overdriven sound of a clean channel amp -
the nourishing volume level, that !
is, when it goes into a somewhat physical body realm - you'll be somewhat
missing out. 3/4 on or more with your amp volume. Other things to consider are
having an additional delay pedal(for songs with different delay parts, such as
'Gloria', and, just to have another setting for another song at the ready), a
super phaser pedal(at least for 'A Day without Me' guitar parts, he also played
with it live during the early part of the Boy tour, plus, I guess, an analog
phaser for the bridge of Boy/Girl - fucking rad sound), an equalizer pedal for
volume/tone boosts for parts of a song( such as the guitar slide on 'Gloria',
and possible metal mute-crunch parts with 11 O'clock Tick Tock renditions, and
other songs where that might sound good), and reverb possibly, and a tuner. 11
O'clock Tick Tock is a Silver Lining I Will Follow and Touch...Into the Heart of
Another Time, Another Place.

I must admit that this site sent me out of my mind. I have been studying Edge's
sounds and delay for about 15 years. It is just amazing what I found here. I am
completely fixed on edge's sound on Where the streets... One big question: at
each main delay (350-380ms) repetition you hear that peculiar 'twang' at the
end of each ringing... HOW CAN I REPRODUCE THAT SOUND NOT OWNING A SDD3000??? Is
it the modulation feature of the SDD3000 or a particular effect setup? Please
somebody reply!!!

Alright again everyong, like I said before I decided to treat myself to a Pod xt
pro rack mount version, with stereo delay which apparentley is what The Edge
uses, I wired the rig up to my vox stereo amplifier and began to read the
manual, this is what the manual says under the heading STEREO DELAY. Ever asked
yourself, "How did The Edge ( U2 ) get that groovy sound on Where The Streets
Have No Name" ? Stereo Delays, my friend. It's the secret to many a U2 song, as
well as the "Big L.A. Solo" sound of the late '80's. Set one side as a fast echo
with many repeats, and the other as a slow delay with just a few repeats.
Viola, you're famous! Run this effect post in order to hear it in stereo, with
one delay on the left, and another on the right. The Time parameter sets the
left delay time, while offset sets the right delay time as a percentage of the
left. So, if you set TIME to 500ms, and OFFSET to 50%,your right delay time
will be 50% off 500ms-in other words, 250ms. Ig!
noring the particular value of the left delay time, 50% just means that your
right delay happens in half the time. So if you think of the left delay as a
quarter note, the right delay is an eighth note. The second page of parameters
for this model gives you independent left and right FEEDBACK controls, so for
instance you can have your left delay feedback set low for a small number of
repeats, while the right feedback is set high to give you a large number of
repeats. You can also dial in the tempo in one of the digital pages on the pod
xt pro, It was easier to dial the bpm in for streets, you can also use note
values which I have done, by selecting an eighth dotted note, so that my delay
falls inbetween the notes im playing, if you have ever seen U2 GO HOME LIVE
FROM SLANE CASTLE ILAND, I surgest you buy the DVD. By the way the set up I'm
using is a VOX Valvetronix AD120VTX, Pod XT pro and a 1970 Stratocaster, black
with a white scratch plate. The Pod XT already come!
s loaded with the patch STREETS HAVE NO NAME, but the delay was set at 120 and
the note value was not right either, so you will need to adjust them.
Alessandro Busetto, Its possibley the delay your talking about or the actual
guitar hes playing which is a 1970's stratocaster like mine, when I play my
stratocaster it does have a certain jangley ring to it, when the tone control
lever is set to the fourth position, I would invest in a pod, you could go for
the smaller version if you want to, like the pod xt, the little bean shaped
effects unit, GO TO www.line6.com and check the site out and listen to some of
there demo's wich they have recorded there selves. good luck!

My little offering here is to back up the guy who said Edge used Roland Space
Echos at first, I saw him in Nottingham Boat Club on the very first Boy tour in
England. Thre were about fifty people in the room that night. And there were
no digital delays on the market in 1980 as far as I know. Another contributor
to the site was a wee bit coy about the secret of The Edge's technique. First
of all do use a dimpled pick like a nylon Dunlop upside down. Use upstrokes for
certain sounds, notably the guitar solo in "One" There is another useful
skill to master. Much of the Edge's technique is in his right hand, as you
will find if you watch Irish folk guitarists accompanying a tune. Well put
simply, you need to practice your triplets. A good staring point is an Irish
jig rhythm,(6/8) Strke: down, down, up, down, down, up, to the rhythm of the
saying, "rashers and sausages". ONE two three FOUR five six.
"RA-shers-and-SAU-sa-ges." Honest,I do not kid you. Then add your!
delays. Bingo!

hello again, if any of you are looking for the picks Edge uses, they are called
'Herdim' picks made in west germany. i get them for about .75 cents a piece.
they are a must for that crisp cut sound. Edge uses the blue "heavy" ones they
are also available in medium "red". hope this helps. i love them.

Alright again, I ordered some herdim picks from a company called
http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/contfram.htm you will find them if you go to
this link, they are about 60p each, I got 20 of them for 12 pound, they except
cards such as visa, switch, solo. Let me tell you they are great, really bring
out the chimey sound on the strings and gives them more of a higher pitch keep
up the good work on this site, its really cool and another thing what would be
good is to find out how the organ intro for where the streets have no name is
played, I have tryed researching it my self but Im no keyboard player, I ve been
told that hes probabley using intervals of the chords for strreets, but I cant
seem to get my head around what an interval is and Ive tryed the chords from
the tab for the guitar but they dont really sound correct, so it would be really
great if someone some where had mastered this technique and could post there
comments on here explaining to us how the organ int!
ro is played. thanks!

Whoah...i knew this existed *somewhere*!!! The Edge is the best! Who else can
dress like a 14 year old and still look cool? Who else can wear beanies in the
summer, be the anti-rockstar, and play "Streets" like the Edge? NO ONE!!!!

Hey... this is very useful information. I'd like to thank you for this
investigation. I would also like to add that the Edge has been getting into a
lot of the new Line 6 stuff thats out now. They also use live sequences that
can send midi sync signals to his rig. I myself use the edge's sound for a lot
of non- U2 music and I use a lot of diffrent resorces to get his sound. I've
used the Lin 6 POD xt, a Digitech rp20 and NI's Guitar rig and its not too hard
to get his sound. I don't use amps because we all have in ear monitoring and we
don't like stage noise very much. Thanks for the info!!!! Anthony

I have found this to be a wonderful source of Info into Edge's "unique" style.
This by far is the most in-depth I have found and he has definately done his
investigation... keep up the good work! You have answered alot of my
questions. Thanks!

Hey, Nice work. I'm not sure you're spot on in most areas, but you're on the
right track. If ever any of you want help recreating Edge's sound, stop by
www.u2sound-forum.com. You'll be amazed at all the information the guys there
can hook you up with. Edge's gear and technique are all we talk about 24/7. So
stop by sometime. =)

Absolutely love this site....glad I came across it. I don't care if it's spot
on but it's a GREAT resource and a great place to get started picking apart
those tricky delays he uses. And to the guy that said the mp3s suck....I would
take a shit in your mouth. Where is your website?? Where are your mp3s?? They
are examples....not absolute studio takes. I hope wherever you are posting
from smells like farts. Kind regards, Charles

I cannot stand The "U2" sound. It is annoying and muddled sounding - not to
mention it all sounds the same. Turn off the effects and you've got a guy
beating the stew out of 2 strings on his guitar. To say "The Edge" is the
greatest guitar player of all time is simply laughable.

Can You send me Your tabs for Where The Streets Have No Name (You played it so
great..)? This song got mysterious power. I try to play it for about... half of
a year - and still nothing.. still sounds suck. Pleaaaaaaase! You'll be my Jedi
Master (Well, actually You are) if You 'learn' me Streets. Just tabs.. and how
i should tune my guitar? Half-a-step, i know... but to Bb? Best wishes Bartek
Nawrotek P.S. Walk On played by You is sooooooo greaaaat! I'm listening it now
for about 50th time . P.S.2. Sorry for my bad english.

Hi Tim this is very interesting indeed. I have been emulating Edge's sound for
twenty years. I am now in a U2 tribute band in the UK and getting a good
sound, however, the ultimate Edge sound is so elusive. I am excited by your
ideas here and will try them out. I use SDD3000 and TC 2290 delays. I will
report back

Just to add- i went to see U2 many years between 1980 to date and was lucky
enough to get a look backstage and on stage in 1987! now............dont shoot
me but ill try and help with another idea on how he gets that bell like tone to
the likes of Pride, still havent found, streets and bad (from looking at his
rig!) PS This is for Live work only- his studio sound has a lot of double and
even triple tracking as our site host says- especially Pride which has 6 guitar
parts- Im happy to tell you how to do that one! Well how about Mr Evans live
for the above mentioned tracks: He uses his black strat with seymours and a 1975
original depending on his mood for still havent found , He was still using the
MXR dynacomp as a compressor/booster set at half ( 30) on Ebay! through his
eventide EQ with the mid bosted slightly. It then seems to run through one of
his Delays (AND yes he does still use the Electro harmonix for some songs).

NOW the next bit is crucial-! Then ...!
the set up enters one of his AC30's THIS IS THE TOP BOOST VERSION MADE BY
JENNNINGS AND HAD (IN 1987) THE ORIGINAL BLUE SPEAKERS. He has it set using the
brilliant channel with the volume set at 3/4. basically the combination of his
compression (to boost the gain going into the ac30) actually drives the valves
into compressing themselves slightly. Normally this produces nice overtones
anyway but if you have the 'Streets' Delay set up and upstroke the first note
(d) played on the top e string you get that note a little louder and
consequently that gives the bell type tone in each bar, its subtle but it IS
there. You will never produce that without an AC30 top boost- why do you think
he doesnt use more modern amp with the tonelab- cos its not quite right maybe?
So, if you wanna get close or those clean sounds of bad etc my suggestion is to
use a dynacomp to overdrive your db going into the amp post delay. Failing this
a Vox amp/peaker simulator with top tweaked EQ.!

Heres TIP 1: Most multi FX pedals chain via the overdrive and then have the
delay at the END of the chain to keep the signal clean. This is the critical
point- you want THE OPPOSITE-to delay the sound and THEN slightly clip it at
the amp end for Edge type sounds. this is 25 years of listening to Edge
watching and playing U2 songs. if you ave a Boss GT3/5 ect you can change where
the delay sits. You will notice that with the AC30 clipping slightly you can
turn the feedack control (repeats) DOWN a little as the amp enters into its
natural distortion with the MXR compressor TIP 2: use 011 gauge strings- a
strat with 9's WILL NOT ring with a bell like tone at all! Edge only uses 11s
and 12's as some of his tunings are dropped a semi tone or more (sunday bloody
sunday live has a Japanese telecaster dropped a full tone and played open as the
record so Bono can get the high notes. if you try that with 009's it will sound
like your playing a comb and paper! So: picture !
this Strat with 011's and lace sensors if you cant get seymour duncans-MXR
Dynacomp-EQ with mid boosted slightly-SDD3000 delay or replicate this by using
a little high cut on the delays settings if you have a Boss GT3/6- AC30TB at
3/4 in brilliant channel. Anyway guys- I hope some of this helps as i know
many of us have tried and I take my hat off to anyone offering advice here .
Ive just been lucky enough to get close enough to see the rig! I havent begun
to talk about his overdriven sounds sorry. Feel free to email me and tell me
how you get on if you try the set up as described. PS. In 1981 he run his basic
EHM MM and MXR rig through an AC30TB and a marshall 4x12 extension cab for the
early tours - See the old Whistle test clips of I will follow and youll see him
manually move the delay time at the start of each song

Thanks for all your hard work and effort you've put into this web site. The
Edge is not only an awesome guitar player but he's a true musician. He has
obviously explored and experimented every possible sound the guitar is capable
of producing - suppose thats why so many guitar players are intrigued with his
sound. This site has given me some technical insights to his guitar playing
thats helped me finally get close to playing "Pride" - the correct way. Keep up
the good work and hope to see some updates. For those of you who don't
appreciate the genius behind Edge's technique and sound, you should stick with
your three- chord bands and go buy another Green Day album. Peace out.

Great site, excellent work -- obviously I am a fan of the man, and I have to say that using
my Korg SDD2000 in conjunction with an old Ibanez DUE400 creates pretty accurate
renditions. I had searched for the Korg for about 5 years before one cropped up - and would
never part with it. It's the mainstay of my setup for many reasons, though that also now
includes various EQ's and miscellaneous other effects. One person mentioned that all
versions of Bad suck after Live Aid. I beg to differ: Rattle & Hum, the movie that is, has
an excellent version of Bad as far as listening to the nuances of the delay is concerned.
Same goes for the version contained on the "Wide Awake in America" EP. That has a really
thick sound to it, partly in respect of the pick action and muting. In fact when learning
that song years ago I had changed the way I hold my pick - and have stayed that way for the
last 10 years. Excellent work, keep it up.

You state that 425ms isn't "in time" for All I Want Is You, as it doesn't match
a dotted eighth note (483ms). However, it almost exactly matches a quarter note
triplet (430ms at 93bpm). And 425ms exactly matches a quarter note triplet at
94bpm. So you might want to update the file on AIWIY.

You're amazing! This is great stuff. Only thing that i'd add is that the
ticka-ticka in Pride can be reasonably well emulated by left-hand muting the
high e string (in Pride it would be C# at the 9th fret). It's a big tricky to
get it clean, but once you lock in on it, you end up obviating the need for the
second guitar overdub (i've heard rumor that the Edge uses Scotch tape on that
string, but i doubt it -- no cheating is required). Btw, i owe this little
trick to Scott Woodward who turned me on to your site.

Great site, i just bought the line 6 D4 Delay modulator.It is excellent..It has
many settings and a good manual explaining the edges' sounds.It has a "Boy"
setting and a newer "Streets have no name setting. Its not perfect but its
close.I think I need a good compressor to go with it though just for some balls
for the solos..Check it out...

Hi Nice research however if you watch any footage i.e. elevation or Pop you
will see that Streets only uses TC2290 B, TC2290 A and SDD's have no signal
indicator. You are Way over complicating things. Yes Edge does use two
delays sometimes but that is normally for the big outros or soaring solos!!!
Streets live has always been played with one TC2290 and Bad has always
beenplayed using one SDD3K!! Check out any live footage and you can clearly
see this!!! He has a long signal path all these components add up to his sound
especially his 60's Vox PS - have you ever played or owned a SDD or TC2290????

Ye, play the best of U2 is a great book special the one with the two CD's, there
are others, but this one has the most songs in it, here's a list of the songs.
Great backing track, the only backing track I was slightly disapointed with was
streets, as there is not much of the organ at the beginning, and 0 organ at the
end, as for the rest of the tracks where pretty great. All I want is you
Beautiful Day Desire Elevation Even Better than the Real Thing Hold Me Thrill me
Kiss Me Kill Me I Still Haven't Found What Im Looking For New Years Day One
Pride ( In The Name Of Love) Sunday Bloody Sunday Where The Streets Have No Name
I paid 19.95 you could obviously get it cheeper than that on the net.

Great site....blew my mind...we do a U2 tribute (montreal, canada) and asside from playing the tunes tightly, we
look to emulate the U2 sound..the content of you study will be very useful to me in the near future as I am the 6
string guy...for now, I use the line 6 stereo delay unit...it does a fantastic job..from emulating the memory man
sound on early U2 tunes to the full stereo delay on streets...obviously the standard settings with taps is not
the exact pure edge sound but I find it's close enough considering the investment (300$) (and most of the
audiences musical memory of the tune). I run the left and right out's to 2 fender deluxe or twin reverb amps set
at left and right extremeties of the stage placing the sweet spot right in the crowd (a little of PA presence is
also good)...the rest is all in the kick ass energy and stage presence of U2 rock an roll.. Thanks for you
study...will learn and apply for next practice.. See ya ! PS came accross a great Ed!
ge/tech/rig atricle this month (august or september issue) of guitar player or guitar magazine...they compare
Edge's rig to the NASA control centre...

Hi Tim and everyone; Very Goood job with edge'delay study!!! About the boss
dd-20 i confirm that it has a mod delay, and play so cool (try to believe...)
also this pedal has a lot of functions like reverse, looping, stereo etc....not
good like sdd 3000/2000, but less expensive and finally a pretty delay unit!
Hallo hallo everyone.......

hello to tim and all the great people here at this website i stumbled onto this
site sunday morning july 31st 2004 it is awesome and of huge importance to
people who love u2 the bands songs...and dave (the edge ) evans ..heavenly
guitar tones ! i started following u2 back in 1983 and i was fully aware of
them since i believe 1981 when boy came out ..i was a sophmore in high
school...i was so in love with the live at red rocks guitar tone and ..also
brian may of queen and rory gallagher's guitar tone i had to buy a vox
ac30....well i have 3 of them now..an ac 30 is very important..to get the old
and new sounds of ..the edge ..other things like a parametric eq and a korg
delay unit are extremely important as i see it...compressors are a good
idea..mxr..dyna comps are good...for a u2 type tone...line 6 gear is also a good
idea to have when trying to get the edge's tones...but now something new has
emerged in the edge's tone arsenal..and im quite happy to chase this!
tone...also..! i hear he is using old tweed deluxes from the 1950's is this
true..? does anybody know anything about this plz help me..?? i have owned a
1957 tweed deluxe fender amp....in the past but im thinking of getting 2
replica deluxe amps off of ebay...my question is this ...does anybody know what
tubes the edge is using inside his deluxe amps..? what speakers he is using
inside the deluxe amps..? and are they tweeked out to produce more watts..?i
hear if u push a deluxe they can go as high as 21 watts is it true..?? if u
tweak the circuit..? ok folks if anybody wants to know more about my band
and my songs feel free to go to my website and listen to my vox ac 30s...full
blast...ha ha hope u like it ..drop me a line @
www.vallesflyingmachinemusic.com i always love to hear from serious guitar tone
people...! have a great day everybody and what pedals and effects he is using
on his deluxe amps..plz advise somebody out there has got to know this stuf!
f plz advise...

BOSS DD20 GIGADELAY. I have the Line 6 DL4 that I use for long Edge delays. For
the second shorter delay, I use the Boss DD20. I have a third cheap delay unit
I use for the 5ms-20ms. The modulated setting on the Boss DD20 sounds great to
me although maybe not as deep as the DL4. You can even adjust the level of
modulation on the DD20 if you read the manual. The greatest thing about the
Boss DD20 is the display for exact speed of the delay, and it has 4 presets (5
theoretically when you have manual mode set to a specific setting). If you need
225ms, you simply dial in 225ms. With other delays without the display, it's a
guessing game. So if Tim suggests a 410ms and a 290ms (Walk On for example), I
use the Boss DD20 to find the 410ms speed, apply that speed to my DL4, and then
dial in the 290ms on the DD20. I mean, who can find 410ms out of thin air
without a little help?

Edge uses such guitars as telecasters, one in particular which is white in
colour but I have no idea what year its from probabley 70, Ive seen him use
this guitar live for sunday bloody sunday, he also has a yellow telecaster for
vertigo. He uses a 1970s stratocaster with the large head stock for where the
streets have no name, Bad, all I want is you, Bullet the blue sky he has a few
of these strats one with a white scratch plate and his old one with the black
scratch plate which hes started using again for playing streets for the vertigo
tour. last time I saw him playing pride was with a fender stratocaster,
somthing similar to the 50th aniversary model that fender brought out which is
sunburst colour. he uses, a gold top gibson les paul for Until the end of the
world, and a ivory coloured gibson les paul with twin pick-ups for the fly. he
has a rickenbacker 350 guiter 12 string for mysterious ways, he uses a fernandes
native x with the built in sustainer circuit!
for with or with out you, I seen him with two models, one can be seen on the
elevation video and the other he used at the vertigo tour which is silver and
is available, the other which he used on the elevation tour was green sparkle
with a mint green scratch plate, this had been modified by the looks of it with
a fernandes retro rocket neck and headstock in maple, thats the light coloured
wood, it also had white coloured pick-ups single coil which look like a type
called hot rail made by dimearez, I think thats how you spell it, theres plenty
of web sites where you can purchase these pick-ups, instead of there being 6
rounded magnets on the pic ups, they have two rails going from top to bottom,
thats why they are called hot rails. My surgetion is get one of there dvds of
them playing live, elevation or u2 go home live from slane, they have got a new
dvd coming out in october, apperentley I guess its from the vertigo tour, so if
ya wanna wait for that you can but Im n!
ot sure if its true, in any case youle get some great footage of edge his great
instruments which you can study and research them. like many people have
commented on his his bell like tone, which is a combination of pick-ups, strings
and his vox amp and like many people say he modifies his guitars, I modified
mine recentley, with Lace Holy Grail pick-ups, and when my amps cranked
correctley and the guitar is fitted with 11 guage strings, and Ive dialed in a
bit of EQ, its sounds big and beefy.

Thanks for all your hard work, I've really enjoyed reading ALL OF IT !!! As a
big fan of U2 since 1984, I've always loved the melodic chimes of The Edge's
guitar, and I listened to your MP3"s and I really liked them, Thanks again for
all your hard work and sharing it with all of us !!

I play Christian music and we use the Edge's sound a lot..Thanks so much for
helping us get it right..Great detail. I've been using and old Line 6 and you
can't decide in which order the effects are in..BR

hi, this is the edge here - all you lot fob off and stop taking my bag of tricks alright! or
Ill set the short singer on you all.,.,. bugger, hes off talking to tony blair.,.

-- , Nov 2, 2005

Excuse me but, i think that the best possibility to aproximate to edge sound is
to configure the gear. I have a pod xt live and a v-amp2. I suggest to put your
patch for all the people. If you want, you can send me it to my email, and I
send you my presets. Thanks to all.

I play in a band called "The Interference". We play alot of U2 stuff. I have
played guitar for over 15 years, and have always been frustrated with trying to
nail The Edge's sound is several sounds. The delay explainations, pick info,
and tempos are right on the money. Thanks so much for putting all your hard
work into this site. Mod Delays Rule! (Especially through my AC30!)

Hi There. What an awesome site! I really thought I was an Anorak all by myself
until I discovered this site! I have been trying for years (about 15) to get
some of The Edges sounds and it looks like I finally get to go closer to The
Edge! A forum on here would be nice. Thanks, Smo in the UK.

What setting should I use on a digitech whami peddle to sound like the edge?
Can you give me some aprox setting for my deluxe memory man I'm getting one
soon and there are only knobs no numbers on them! How do you get that electric
sound at the begining of elevation? That wha wha wha wha sound at the start.
I think it's a digitech, gain peddle, and a whaw peddle?

Hi great site, just got a Boss dd-20 giga delay and it does work very well,
especially on the modulated delay setting. The nice thing is you can adjust
the level of modulation, so on Pride I kick it up heavy and on others, like
Streets I do a more subtle modulation. Amazing how important adding a little,
or a lot, of modulation is for the Edge sound, didn't realize this until I
found your site, now I'm much closer to capturing it.

Was alson wondering if someone would put all of this great info. on a
spreadsheet i.e., columns labeled Song, Delay 1, Delay 2, Modulation etc...
Would be a great tool in lieu of hunting each song and related setting down in
the site.

Forgive the simple question as I am a novice....today's delay pedals have a
feedback and mix setting....does anyone know what edge's settings for "feedback"
and "mix" are for his delay? It seems these settings are so
important....thx....great site. Phil

-- , Dec 10, 2005

Can somone please tell me what pedal effect the edge uses right BEFORE the LIVE
version of City of Blinding Lights. It seems so smooth sound.... thank you

OK. your internet site is wonderful! thank you for all the edge's fans and the
guitar players. just for the edge fan's, just remember = fender strat->0.13
strings-> dimarzio bridge pickup Fs-1 and fender stock pickup in //-> mxr
dynacomp -> delays (1 echo with modulation) (see this nice site) -> vox ac30. (
pride, where the streets... etc..) thank you and best regards. denis

respect to all you edge wannabees, to try an imatate such a ledgend requires
such a lot of time and money that none off us could afford, i own a vox ac30
amp plus a memory man the vox which inheareted from my father and an dodgy
memory man i picked up on ebay which iv re- solderd for the third time last
wednesday before i new off these kind off effects i used to bore myself to
tears playing straight through the amp but i must say i picked up a zoom 707
about 3 years ago and for all you guitarists that dont have the money needed for
a sdd3000 and korg a3 it just about did the trick to all none edge ears but u
will find such tracks like bad and all i want is you off the zoom patch data
abase you can pick up a 707 which has every effect your looking for if not the
best but cheap and easy to use. i was in new york resently and picked up a boss
gt8 and would be happy if any body knows some kick ass edge patches i can use,
great site but what happened to the u2 sound site!
every time i log on all i get is a black screen anyway keep up the good work,
respect!!

Hi. I have a Behringer V-amp 2, which has a massive section on delay settings in it's editor, but
the problem is they're all in BPM. Can anyone convert 320ms (city of blinding lights) to BPM for
me? I can NEVER get it right with tapping...

I found this to be quite resourceful, thanks for your time and effort on this.
Also I own the Line6 Echo Park if any one has any information or advice on some
edge related delay times or anything like that please email me...
da_trippa_on_trance@hotmail.com, cheers.

I am a beginner guitarist (from the standpoint I started when I was eight and didn't keep up with it) and saw U2 twice for the first time live on the
Vertigo tour. Was astounded by the amount of processing power The Edge uses. This site is excellent - obviously a lot of time and effort went into it. I
purchased the Vertigo DVD (filmed in Chicago) and there are some close-ups of The Edge's effects - both the control switching box on the floor and the
effect boxes on top of his rack in the back. Does anyone have any comments on what the effects are on the top of the rack and on what songs does he use
them? The colors, shapes and knobs should help identify them. For example I noticed a Big Muff distortion box (basic metal box with red and black
markings, three plastic knobs and a basic on/off switch) and an Ibanez Tube Screamer (bright green peddle) because I used to have these back in highschool.
Also, what are the rack mounted units in the box behind him with!
all the blinking lights? Also, see this old snapshot of The Edge's old set-up. I noticed some of the same effects on the Vertigo DVD. Ibanez Tube
Screamer seems to be a new addition since then. http://www.customaudioelectronics.com/photo_gallery.htm Finally, can someone recommend the basic effects,
etc. that a beginner like me should purchase to get the U2 sound? The information on this site is excellent, but a little overwhelming. Also, anyone have
the distortion type and settings, and other effect settings for Vertigo? Thanks to everyone for posting the great information. I will try to contribute
going forward. Hopefully the link above and the Vertigo DVD reference helps. Michael O'Hare - NYC

One more of interest.... CLOSE TO THE EDGE by Chris Gill; published in Guitar World, September 1997 U2 Guitar Tech Dallas Schoo on the Edge's Mofo Rig
Piled high on the left side of the PopMart tour stage is a stack of equipment so imposing that it makes NASA's Mission Control look like an amateur ham
radio station. This impressive array of gear may seem like overkill, but according to the Edge's guitar tech, Dallas Schoo, who has worked with the
guitarist since 1985 and who previously worked with Prince and The Police, it's a collection of essential items that enables the Edge to reproduce the many
sounds he's concocted on U2's albums. "This is the same setup that the Edge uses in the studio," says Schoo. "When the band plays songs form the old
albums, the Edge wants his old sounds. We have everything from a bunch of stomp boxes that were used on Boy, War and The Joshua Tree to a number of rack
effects and Lovetone pedals that were added for the Pop album." On!
e irreplaceable effect is the Edge's Korg SDD-3000 digital delay. "That's one of his favorites because it has so much warmth," says Schoo. "Most of the
albums were made with that delay." Other processors in the Edge's rack include a Roland SDE-3000 digital delay and Yamaha SPX90, Korg A3, Rocktron
Replifex, DigiTech 2112 and Eventide H3000 multi-effectors. He also carries a full array of pedals, including Dunlop Fuzz Face, Dunlop and Bradshaw
multiple-wah systems, several Boss distortion units, an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, and Lovetone's Big Cheese distortion Doppelganger phaser and Meatball
envelope follower. The Edge's favorite stomp box is the DigiTech Whammy. "He uses that a lot," says Schoo. "He's starting to use it on songs that didn't
originally feature it. We tried the newer models, but the Edge kept hitting the large bypass button and shutting the effect off. I ran an ad in Vintage
Guitar magazine for old WH1 Whammy pedals, and we got such great response !
that we now have eight of them." According to Schoo, there are 48 different effects and seven different amplifiers in the Edge's rig. To control all this
equipment he uses four custom Bradshaw controllers-two on stage and another two off stage which are controlled by Schoo while the Edge ventures onto the
satellite stage or away from his setup. "One of the controllers lets him engage any amp he pleases, which keeps the sound man real busy," laughs Schoo.
"It's amazing what he'll experiment with in the show. He'll take chances turning on a high output amp that might be too much for the song, but he'll
control it with his volume pedal. And while he's experimenting, he's storing programs. I'll be looking down at my controller while I'm tuning his guitars,
and I'll see these lights flashing on and off. He's quite an amazing artist." Since day one, the Edge has relied almost exclusively on Vox amps, and he
carries a variety of vintage models dating from 1964 to 1969 o!
n the road with him. "The Voxes have a wonderful, soft tone from being broken in," says Schoo. "I have spares up there, but they don't have the mileage
that the other six Voxes do. It really upsets him when he has to use a spare because the tone and the reaction to all the different guitars is incredibly
different. But those old Voxes are really undependable. Sometimes the wires catch fire." The Edge also has a pair of Randall RG80 combos that he uses for
his "crunch" tones. Besides flaming amplifiers and constantly changing effects programs, one of the biggest challenges of Schoo's tour routine is
maintaining the 32 guitars that travel along with the Edge. "He only uses nine of them during the show," notes Schoo, "but I have to come in at about 9
o'clock the night before the show to put strings on all 32 guitars. I leave at about two in the morning. Edge is always the first one in for soundcheck. He
comes in anytime between 11 and 1 o'clock, and he wants fresh st!
rings on every guitar for every show. He'll always ask me, 'Are these strings fresh?' He demands a lot from me, but he also demands a lot from himself.
While the rest of the band goes off to eat he's still up there dialing his sounds in." The Edge's current on stage axes include a '76 Rickenbacker 330-12, a
cream '72 Les Paul Custom, a '68 goldtop Les Paul reissue, a Fernandes solidbody with a built-in Sustainer pickup, a Taylor dread nought acoustic and two
Gretsch Country Gentlemen-a '65 and a '67. Schoo is involved with every aspect of the Edge's performance except for his solo karaoke spotlight. "I don't
want to have anything to do with that," jokes Schoo. "He's out there on his own. So many of my guitar friends who have seen him over the years talk about
how he always projected this deep, dark image, and then they see this guy out there in a cowboy hat singing these Monkees songs! They can't fathom it. But
it's the only time that there's levity, and it reall!
y helps me. If l'm having a tough show, I get a lot of nasty stares from him, but once he comes back from his karaoke moment he's all happy and off we go. I
get another chance at life."

does anyone know how to simulate all of the edge's sounds on a line 6 pod? i
saw them on 60 minutes and saw his floorboard. is there a way to get all those
sounds? i'm not sure how to get the settings to sound like them?

Great page and great information. Currently attempting to play some U2 tabs with
my Fender setup and RP80 effects processor (soon to be reviewed by me on
www.net-reviews.com. This page has some valuable info! Keep up the good work!

hey there... the edge is awsum! he plays the guitar really really
exquisitly...he is like no other. i am inspired by the edge in the way that i
play my guitar. thankyou to all you u2ers out there... y'all keep on rocking
out to the sound of the edge!

I recently purchased the boss dd-20 and I must say it's probably the only delay
you need.....it has a dual mode that you can set to two delay times just ike
The Edge. I know he has two seperate delays to 2 amps but thos os just as good
if you don't have the recources....I have to tweak the modulation mode and fool
with it a bit so i'll get back to that one.

Thanks for all this info, i believed it is a little bit hard to get any edge's
sound but the good thing is that everyone trying to get it, is listening a great
music whit a lot of quality dont u think,what i used is the vg88 roland if you
work on it you can get a very similar sound, also I used the line 6 POD pro in
fact the edge use this processor and other line6 delay processors, I play in a
band and we play a lot a u2 songs and sound very good,they have to, because I am
a real u2 fan and the songs need to sound so convincent, you know.

First, I want to say this is a great site. I love your scientific approach to
the Edge's sound, it has been very helpful in my own approach to delay
settings. I hope one day, my tones will be as highly analyzed as his. In
reference to the Boss DD-20, I have to say that dialing in an "Edge-y" type
tone is infinitely easier than with the Line 6 products, and the sound is
better too. The modulation delay is great and for a single delay unit, it is
very powerful. Thank you again for your analysis and contribution to the never
ending search for the perfect "tone."

I'm about to Buy a Flextone 3, In the manual they say you can recreate the "Edge
Sound" using The Ping Pong Delay Feature, is this right, cause I don't exactly
understand the difference between Ping Pong en Stereo Delay? Great Site BTW, it
has already been very helpful

BIg fan of the edge's sound. i havent tried to mimic any of it on my music but
am going to start emulating some of it live. at times i hv already done so but
i mostly play acoustic solo songwirter so i am working hard to make it work and
not insult the Edge in anyway. i am going to try a lot of these out live and
see how it goes. i did once in a AnR conference in LA. just me and acoustic
guitar and for some reason it worked. the osund guy was a huge U2 fan so he
knew what i was going after and not sure what he did but it was great. it was
my original song but very U2 Edge in nature. i was very thrilled and pleased...
thnks a million ...best site i hv ever come across so far...wicked... - F the
August Story band fm NY www.theauguststory.com

Hello Big Tim, I got an Echo Park unit for Christmas so I have been happily
flipping between Elvis "Slap" settings and of course The U2 constantly! Is
there any chance, Timbo, that you could post photos or diagrams for settings
like you did above for Echo Park? It would be totally sweet if you had that for
individual songs or albums and would make life even better than you have
already! Cheers, Timmy Boy

Great site Tim..if a bit mind-boggling at times! And all the other posters
giving their views only adds to the site but has also had me lol a few times. I
used to own a Boss GT-6 and found using a modulated delay of around 400ms got
me close enough...I know I'm never going to get it perfect! Also, to the guy
who was asking about the "wa,wa, wa,wa" sound at the begining of "Elevation" ,
I think (and this is only MY guess) that Edge is using a Digitech Whammy pedal.
Don't know what he's using for the overdriven sound, but it sounds like the
high-end has been rolled off... "Hold me, Thrill me" has a similar begining and
I could get close to that with my GT-6 ....which I've now upgraded to the GT-8.
I haven't even begun to scratch the surface with this thing. Anyone else who
has one may be interested in the site "www.bossgtcentral.com" which is where i
found the link for this site.Thanks again...and keep the posts comin' guys!

Hello All! I have a small question, I hope i'm too much off topic. I'm thinking
of getting a compressor, ILike you guys i like the EGDEs sound very much, Any
good recomandstions? My budget is human( not 1000$) stomp box style, a pedal. I
would be glad for any reccomdations! Thanks Terje

To Terje, on the subject of compressors, you can pick up a new Boss CS-3 for
around 45 ...dont know where you are mate or I'd try convert it for you....but
I think Edge has used a CS-2 before... hope this is of some help.

Hi, my name is humberto, i live in mexico. Just want to say thank you for all
this info, im starting to play guitar and my first motivation is to learn U2
songs so thats why I loved this site (THE SECRET IS LETTING GO). Also im really
happy because U2 is coming to mexico on february and im going to the show, its
going to be my first u2 live experience. WE'LL TEACH BONO SOME SPANISH !!!

POD XT Live: Hi! I uploaded two patches that I made for Streets using the XT
Live to the customtone.com website. The first uses stereo delay and the second
uses the ping-pong delay. I prefer the ping-pong because it lets you adjust the
stereo separation. Anyways, I have used the settings that were suggested on this
website and I think it's a pretty top notch reproduction of the effect. If you
want to check it out, search the site for the preset called "U2 Streets". Have
fun!

help me understand. If I have the ability to dial in the exact ms, is that all I
do? Or, do I also need to know if it's dotted eight etc.. My delay has both
settings, I can select a dotted eigth and other notes and use a tap tempo. Or,
I can dial in the exact ms. If I see a song and it says (270ms) is that all I
need?

Tim, Just want to congratulate you on your brilliant site. I have been playing
in a U2 tribute for a few years now and regularly refer to your studies when I
am stuck! Keep up the good work. I'd love to hear more of your views on his
set up:- amps, pedals, guitars etc. Thanks, Nic www.u2ii.com

Hey, just wondering does anyone know what kind of pickups the edge has in he's
cream Gibson Les Paul Custom, apparently according to he's guitar tech. Dallas
Schoo they are Dimarzio pickups, not sure which type but, anyone know?

Hello everybody, i've just created a new community about The Edge and about his
guitar and his sound. If you want to join, we can discuss there about him The
registration is free. The URL is
http://edge88.altervista.org/phpBB2/index.php There are only a few users now
but you can help the community to grew up! Thanks Bye

Wow! Thank you so much for the helpful resource, and I just wanted to give some
info of my own Just picked up a Boss DD-20 after playing on a DL4 for over a
year, and I have to say its infinitely better than the DL4. From the digital
display (You want 360ms, you get 360ms) to 4 presets, to the Soound-on-Sound
mode, to the modulate delay effect, I just can't get enough of it. I would
HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking to learn how to play using delay or is
learning the styles of the Edge or Brian May.

Hi, great site and amazing analysis. Just one question, does anybody now for
sure what kind of speakers do the Edege's Vox AC30 amplifiers have (are they
silver bulldogs, blue alnico bulldogs, green speakers, ... a mixture of them in
the same amp?) and if they are hand wired ones (HW series) or what year of
production are his favourite? By the way, in the last vertigo tour, was he using
one Vox AC30+Fender in stereo or they were two Vox AC30 in stereo + the Fender
in another location (which?) and are you sure that it was a Fender Tweed Deluxe
and not a Fender Bassman (and from what year of production)?

Tone rules! I love my Boss DM2 Analog with the Tube Screamer (tso8) for dirty or
MXR Phaser (turned way way down) or CE2 Chorus (analog) Do any younger player
notice anything? Tone comes from analog it is the true spirit of the digital
sample. Get it?

Hey guys i've got some questions I don't know anything about this delays, but i bought a DD-6 Boss, and i want to know, if its possible to put
this things ''3/16'' on my pedal, it's on the time button?. Please someone answer and help Thanks

Thank you for this amzing site. It is true gift to any guitarist wondering how
to incorporate the edge its their playing. It can be a bit of a mystery as to
how the genius creates his great art. But, the wool is no longer over our
eyes. Thank you very much!

Nice article. I have not read ALL of the many great comments, but have enjoyed many of them. I have a
few thoughts for someone trying to get up to speed on Edge type delay settings on a budget. You can
read more of this at PLAYLIKEAPRO.com 1) Definitely refer to 3/16 delay as dotted 8th as an early
poster suggested 2) Think in terms of tempo (the speed of the song), feedback (how many times the
delay repeats), and effect level (how loud the delay is in relation to the dry guitar sound) 3) Always
use a tap tempo. That way, the setting is always constant and you just tap the tempo in. Trying to
figure out the math on a manual calc is ridiculous. Just tap. And furthermore, If the drummer starts
to speed up, and they always do, you keep playing and do a corrective tap. You will always be in sync!
4) Try combinations of 1/4 notes and dotted 8th note delays. 5) Play less and let the delay do the
work. Frequently Edge is playing simple 1/4 notes --- 1/2/3/4 an!
d the delays are doing all the cool rhythms. 6) Use combinations of level and repeats to experiment.
Somtimes the Edge uses a dotted 8th note delay with lots of delay volume, but very little repeats.
SOmetimes he uses dotted 8th, not so, wet, pumped into a quarter note delay. 7) This is my
top-secrect trick for ulimate delay satisfaction...or something like that. I do this with two Boss
DD5s. I have not seen a lot of guys do this, so i thought I would pass it on. Here's how I do it:
Here's my simplified mono signal chain: guitar >compressor>modulation>volume>delay1>delay2>amp -- ps
the volume pedal comes before the delay because when I kill the volume the delays trail off and more
importantly the volume swell effect with delays AFTER the volume is the best. Try it you - will never
go back. Anyway, I am using two Boss DD5s in a row. The first one is set to the dotted 8th setting,
preset 9 or 11 or something, low number of repeats, medium level. It pumps!
straight into the second delay pedal, still mono, set to a 1/4 note delay. There I have more repeats
and less level. The secret is this USE ONE TAP TEMPO FOR BOTH PEDALS! You can use the regular boss
tap tempo with a 1/4" jack splitter from Radio Shack. In other words the output of the tap tempo pedal
is connected to the splitter. The splitter is connected to two 1/4" cables. One cable goes to delay 1's
tap tempo input, the other to delay 2's tap tempo input. You tap and both pedals are syncd to the beat.
Experiment with level and repeats on each pedal (using them in line, mono, causes them to affect each
other). Thanks for reading. U2 rocks. Jim

Hi folks, yes, the secret is the delay with modulation (vibrato). I have an
EHX Memory Man unit, when it's properly set you get clearly the U2 guitar sound.
The setup is : guitar => compressor (MXR dyna comp or other) => amp => in
effect loop EHX Memory Man (delay + vibrato) You can put also the Memory Man
before the amp, but as I am using the amp distortion for it's better to put the
unit in the effect loop for better distortion sound clality. set your amp with
more higher and medium frequencies, less low frequencies or use an equalizer.
You can get a real good U2 sound with a Strato. Using 009 strings is ok but 011
should be better to get more harmonics and bell sound. Strike the strings with
the flat side of the pick even the dimpled side, and you will hear the
difference ... Modulation delay can be found with other system, Line6 DL4 unit
and probably other recent digital units. I will try with VST plugins in Sonar 5
.... to see if I can reproduce this great sound.!
Rgds.

Hi. I love this site. I just wanted to comment that I figured out how to
immitate the Pride stereo delay setup (i.e. one channel only the dry signal and
the other channel with only the delayed signal) using the POD XT Live. Use the
"Stereo Delay" setting and set the tempo to 3/8. Set offset to 0%, FBK L to 0%,
FBK R to 30% and MIX to 60%. Alternatively, you can download my patch called "U2
Pride MKII" from customtones.com Have fun!

Thanx for this incredible site! just like some other guy mentioned here
earlier the main secret is really about the way Mr Evans play, not which effects
he uses. I think we all know theres some delay, some reverb and some chorus to
get his special trade mark sound, but his attitude and his sharpness is the
reason why we have so much to talk about on this great site. regards

hi, just a couple of points i would like to make.this is a great site as it
gives people like me who are students of edge delay settings some great info so
thanks for that.on the official tour programme for the joshua tree there is a
list of the gear all the band use.interestingly it says that edge was using a
boss dd-3 delay back then but i havnt seen any comments on this.i myself play
in a u2 tribute band based in ireland so i find your delay settings intresting
as we use click tempo driven backing tracks when playing live i set all the
songs with my tempo settings on a boss gt-8 processor unit played through an ac
30 on one side and a hiwatt custom 100 stack with 4 x 10 cab on the other.the
vox is great for the classic u2 tones but the hiwatt gives me more to my drive
settings but overall it gives me a lovely balance.on the gt-8 there are i think
14 preset tempo settings for each bpm so it makes light work once you determine
what tempo you decide to play at.i fi!
nd one of the biggest problems with playing u2 songs is deciding which version
to play eg.when we do bad its the wide awake in america version but played at a
tempo of 105bpm as it is done on the elevation dvd live from boston.but i think
you will find that most of the songs are sped up slightly when played live
anyway so if you find yor delay repeats are a bit fast or slow dont worry its
down to what tempo you decide to play yourself.everyone keep up the good work
and keep the faith!my bands name is mysterious ways and you can see us at
www.mysteriouswaysonline.com if it takes your fancy.

Like all of you, I have been absolutely fascinated and mezmerized with what The
Edge can do with his guitar, not to mention what U2 can do and has been doing
with music since they began. As for your site, it is absolutely amazing how in
depth your analysis is and it is very evident how much work and devotion you
have put into gathering all of this information. Thank you! Couple of
questions, to closely replicate Edge's sound, without spending too much money,
what would you recommend in terms of equipment for someone who is just starting
out? Would the Line 6 Echo Park do the trick for most songs? Also, would it be
possible for you to post the tabs for all of the MP3 samples you provide or
could someone please direct me to the best resource for U2 tabs, whether it be
the Internet or books that you can buy. I notice you provide them for a few of
the MP3's but it would be nice to have the others as well. I find the MP3
samples you provide extremely helpful, are you planning on including anymore for other U2 classics? It's a great way to learn, I
find it much easier to follow your "isolated" riffs than listening to the song
on CD. Please keep up the great work. Judging by some of the posts, your work
and effort is greatly appreciated. I wonder if the Edge has ever visited your
site???? A U2 fan from the very beginning, Tony

This is extremely useful site, I have been looking for information about The
Edge and this is the place. As for a useful web site that has all the U2 tabs
try www.ultimate- guitar.com/tabs/u2_tabs.htm. The great thing about this web
site is a program Power Tab Editor 1.7. This program plays the tabs back to
you so you can hear the sound, slow it down or loop it. The possibilities are
endless. All you have to do is down load it, then pick a song like Bad in
power tab format. Then open power tab and the last thing you need to do is
open the file that you downloaded while in Power Tab and hit play. The only
thing that I can see is; it does not exactly sound the same as some of the
great mp3 on this website. If someone that was a better player than I, I would
like to know it this helps. I hope it does

Hello again! I bought myself PODxt Live yesterday and I'm looking for some great U2 tones,
especially for the songs from HTDAAB. I downloaded almost everything from customtones.com but
there are no tones for songs from HTDAAB - only for Vertigo and it, actually, sucks. Can anyone
make new ones for songs like City of Blinding Lights, All Because of You and Original of the
Species? Oh, and people all over the iternet would be grateful if somebody tabbed out songs from
DVD: Live from Chicago. Take care, mates. Peace out!

First of all let me say thanks for a excellent site, The Edge is the reason i started to play guitar many years ago, for me he is the most
original player since Mr Hendrix both are true inovators.We all like to have a go at getting the sounds right but you have made it a lot
easier. I have put together my own little collection of bits and bats (dyna-comp-memoryman-big muff-vox-amp-whammypedal)but lately have been
using a podxt and it sounds pretty good. I do think that one day one of the big companies will try and get Edge to put his name to a all
singing/dancing Edge in a pedal/rack, but he has said he will only put his name to a product if it was really special and he believed in it,
plus i think he likes to keep us all scratching our heads trying to figure his magic out. (but i secretly wish there was a edge box) thanks
for a very cool site chris nichols england.

Found this interesting quote from Dallas Schoo, The Edge's guitar assistant...
Korg SDD-3000 Notes: "...his (The Edge) oldest delay is the Korg SDD-3000 that
has it's own character but is unfortunately no longer in production. It is
analogue and because I can not address it with MIDI commands I have to make
those moves myself to bump up the various preset delay time programmes. That
was a bit of a thorn in my side but it has the most pleasant delay tone for
Edge, and if he could do the whole show with that one unit he would. However,
the range of material now played by the band demands a variety of effects
sources." [Dallas Schoo] Source: "Alive and Kicking" by Mark Cunningham [p.179]

First congrats for the page is great and it help me a lot to understand edge
s sound and delay, but the one I wasn t sure was the first part of with or
without you (not the main riff written above)

e-----10--10-10--10----
b----7--7------7----8--

Above you mention a usual delay but it is not
explain how he gets such an extended sustain at the beggining of the song.
I always thought it was a "sustain Pedal" but someone on a comment said
that it is the "sustain system" incorporate on his guitar.... could you or
someone explain this more depply, also the bending of the note/signal is
because of a bending pedal or just a change of fret...THIS SONG ROCKS AND I
AM NOT ABLE TO PLAY IT!!!!! I NEED HELP Thanks, and this page rock! BY THE
WAY WOULD THIS BE THE CORRECT PATERN???

****MEANS THE SUSTAIN OF THE NOTE
e---14******15**17***********19****17***15-14**********15-14****17*****14*****26**
B---------------------------------------------------------------15*****15*********
AND BASS DOING THIS
D-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-------------------------------------------------
A-----------------0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-----------------
E-------------------------------------------------3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-

This site is absolutely ridiculous because of the amount to information on it.
I can't even fathom the amount of time it must have taken to compile this. I
created my own delay settings using my Rocktron Intellifex and thought it was
pretty accurate but it wasn't close to being as clean since reviewing this page.
My hat is off to you and keep up the amazing work. I'm sure that along with
myslef, everyone will appreciate it if you can post some more songs.

I use a vox ac30CC 1x12, a boss DD20 delay, vintage TS9, lonestar strat and a
les paul custom...and I must say, the DD20 is miles and miles ahead of the line
6 tonepark pedals. The DL4 is nice, but the DD20 is a perfect challenge to the
DL4. The modulation delays are gorgeous and shimmering, and the LED screen
showing delay times, tempos, BPM is unchallenged in a great compact stomp box.
GREAT SITE!!! Just wanted to let you know its an amazing resource of U2 Guitar
playing. Your site is great! Keep up the amazing work!

Great site, thank you. I don't get to use my fav delays settings often with my
band but here is what works for me. -ESP w/EMGS--> Tube Screamer-->MXR P90 at
minimal settings--> AMP -->> effects loop into LS-2-- >DL4 and the Holy Grail
reverb. I use Marhsall clean and grit settings on a TSL JCM for delay stuff.
It sounds AMAZING for the cost of the set-up. It blows my buddies Mode 4,
schecter, dd-20, set up away anyday. It was nice to see that things i did by
accident (use rounded edges of pics and pics with grooves made from scraping)
are things that the egde does on purpose.

Hi, great site. I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio and a mesa boogie single
rectifier and I will never get the Edges sound out of these. I now want to
adopt a little of the edges style but the boogie/les Paul combination has too
much sustain for delay and you end up with a muddy sound. I think for delay a
true clean guitar amp (fender/vox) and clean guitars (bright and low sustain -
fender, Ibanez, etc...) are needed. I use a Boss DD-20 but am not too familiar
with it yet. If anyone knows about this pedal please post your knowledge on
hear especially about the modulation aspects/functions. Thank you, Have you
done any similar studies? Are they on the net too? I would be interested in
taking a look. God bless, Paul Hanafin

To Paul... I have a boss DD20 and I have used it extensively through gigging
and home use. It has great modulation setting for replicating the edge like
delays heard on all the U2 albums. If you want to talk about it, just shoot me
an email anytime! Dave

lol, since when does the edge even know how to play the guitar? Isnt he still
using that Em7 and D chords with that same twangy strumming pattern in every
single song since 1980 something. you guys need a new role model

i could see how a lot of people would look down to the edge. However, i still
think he deserves his respect. He may not steal the show with his solos, but
thats not his job. He's there to provide a good background to U2's music. He
does it well. And people love it. I also think its hard to take good control of
the delay and to use it as well as the edge does. If you dont respect him,
whatever. Let it be

fantastic work - keep this up if anyone is interested - i have been able to
recreate many of the sounds egde uses with a cheap 50 FX processor and a cheap
marshall amp, i think that the main thing that people overlook is egdes way of
playing, instead focusing on his sound. I have been able to get "bad" and
"pride" as perfect as i can with this sub 200 setup, drop me an email (
jarjarjakes[at] hotmail.com)if you want a sound sample. Thanks - and keep up
the great work jake

Michael (Apr 13, 2006)! The Edge while performing WoWY uses "sustaining device"
called "EBow". Check out the official site of the producer. New Electronic Bow
costs about 70 Pounds in UK and around 70 Dollars in US. What a pity it doesn't
cost also around 70 Zlotys in Poland :( (actual price in Poland - 400 Zlotys =
133 USD (1 USD=3.10 PLN). Anyway - totally kicks ass. It's used for many solos
not only in U2 songs. You remember Nazareth - Love Hurts and it's solo?
Breathtaking and sooo everlasting. Yeah. That was the first version of EBow.
Cheers, mates!

Michael and Jake. With or Without you was originally performed with the eBow.
Later Edge used a sustainer guitar from Fernandes. You can buy a sustainer kit
from Fernandes to build into your own guitar. It s on
eBay

first of all, wonderful work very accurate with general stuff and delay times. i
just wonder how can you manage to get the right delay time and not to be able to
play with it in time in your mp3(that's totally weird rythm).I think the edge
sound is first a matter of sharp rythm playing before sound working.Try to play
any u2 songs without guitar effects and when you are sharp enough with rythm you
will be able to put delay on it. however this site is great thanx

Hi again -- thought I'd check back on the site for more info, nice to see this is still here I'm
looking forward to my new delay purchase, the often copied but never replicated Korg SDD3000 This
will have pride (haha) of place sitting right under my SDD1000 ... now I can really start to rip into
those tracks properly. My goal is not to imitate Edge's sound, rather, take certain harmonic and
stylistic things and apply them to our original material. I have also found in the past that my Digitech
RP20 (now being repaired due to a lockup 5 seconds before a gig started - of all places for it to fail
this would have to be the worst!!!) coupled with my Korg AX30 (both pedalboards) has emulated sounds
very close (due to both the RP20 and the AX30G having Modulation Delays on them, with stereo outs on
both as well), with one going into a HH Electronic 100W Amplifier and the other into a Roland JC120
(another amp prominently seen on the Unforgettable Fire Tour - and if you are able to get a back issue of Guitar Player for 1985 (the issue featuring the Edge on the cover, of
course!), which I was lucky enough to get a while back, has a good rundown of the effects setups). Also,
couple this with a black strat and you've almost got the total sound working (my one actually has a Dave
Gilmour pickup set in it, with the tonal boost on it, that works well if you aren't able to lay your
hands on any of the korg units, the 3000 has one of the best preamps in the unit itself, which is also
part of the sound/tonal flavours the Edge gets)... Great work anyway, keep it up

Tim, Thank you again for all your work on the site... it's definetly a labor love, but it's still labor right? Not sure if you saw
this or not - but here's a link to a video in which The Edge plays "Streets" on a very clean amp with little delay. I think this
video proves your work that he is really incapable (like the rest of us) of playing his work with only one delay unit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBeVOOm8mK8 (go to 5:08) Cheers, TB

Just another helpful tidbit to hone The Edge's sound in...he uses an AMS 1580s
reverb to give his sound a unique shimmer effect, those modules can get really
pricey so I would recommend a verbzilla from line 6... (the octo setting).
Works great on a budget.

Can anyone tell me how the big fuzzy warm rhythm guitar tone is achieved on
Vertigo. Haven't been playing very long but love the tone and would like to
know what Amp, guitar,effects etc was used to achieve it. Thanks to any one
that can help. JP

Hi i'm one of u2 biggest fans i got a guitar but i only no 3 chords u and Brian
May r the best at guitar in new years day u play both piano and guitar man ur
soooo cool man i hope i get to vmake a band as good as u2 bye

What's the deal with Edge's right Hand? Or just the overall timing in general?
For example "Streets" on Rattle and Hum.........what is the interplay between
him and the drummer on the lick? It's a 6/8 displacement against a 4/4 or
something I don't get at all.............. is it some displacement over the
barline? I just can't count it. It seems like even when he is playing just
simple rythym such as All Along the Watchtower, or one note such as the intro
to Silver and Gold (both Rattle and Hum) he is using some real syncopated up
down strokes along with the delays, that give it such a cool effect............
what's the basis or skill set of his right hand timing? Any practice exercises
or systems?

In response to Jarrod's question about the sound on Vertigo. Apparently Edge used the DM4 stompbox from Line 6 to record the whole album. Vertigo for example uses (I believe) the "fuzz face" setting. We tried that setting on a VOX AC15 at the local guitar shop using a Les Paul and it sounded identical to Vertigo. The guy at the shop fell in love with the combination of the VOX and the DM4. The DM4 sells for about $300.00 cdn. The story goes that they started with one DM4, which has 4 presets, and everytime Edge found a sound he liked they stored it in the DM4. Once they used all four pre-sets, someone ran out and bought another DM4. They bought 11 in total. Apparently, Line 6 built the Edge a custom rackmount version (apparently only 8 were made) of the DM4 with 99 presets each. I read this information from a backstage interview that someone did with the band. Tony

"Thank you Line 6 for sorting me out with a rackmount version of my DM4 stompbox... it sounds great and I know I'll be using it a lot come the next tour... I still love the stompbox though!" -The Edge
http://line6.com/news/general/122

I'm sure if you plug a good quality electric into the DM4, you'll get pretty close the sound. I'm trying to figure out how to afford a Les Paul as well! :-) Does anyone have any insight as to why the Edge decided to bring along two Fender amps on the latest tour and what songs in particular they are used for? You can see them next to the AC30's in the Vertigo - Live in Chicago tour. I also saw a 1 hr. VH1 program which followed U2 when they were practicing in Mexico (rough life). Along with the 36 guitars the Edge showed off and his regular gear rack, he briefly mentioned and pointed to the Fender amps. Does anyone also know what model they are? I understand the Fender amps are similar to the VOX in that they are fairly clean sounding. Thanks! Tony

I own two Boss DD-20 giga delay pedals, and I have to say that they are the next best thing to having a korg sdd-3000. You can dial in any number for the delay setting. I used the settings on this website, and they sound just like the recordings. Plus there are so many cool settings that you can improvise with, like slap back echo, tape echo (with two head settings) there's a dual delay where you can set a long and short delay at the same time. But the best setting i use is the modulation delay so you get that warm Edge sound. I also wanted to say thanx for making this website, I always wanted to sound and play like Edge and now i can with my simple pedals, and the delay times here. Everything is so acurate. I hope you plan on doing more songs...like Van dieman's land which i think is a 441 delay setting. I could be wrong though. Thanx

If you really want, yet another, great example of how talented the Edge is as a guitarist specifically how he has mastered the delay effect, watch the opening of the Vertigo concert on the Live in Chicago DVD. The first song they play is City of Blinding Lights. There is a great shot from above of the Edge playing the guitar, the camera is focused on his picking hand. You can clearly see how the Edge plays a few notes and then waits and then plays again in-between the delayed notes. It's just a great example of his perfect timing. I only realized what he was doing after reading through all of Tim's great analysis. You can also see how manages to do all this and still pick his next guitar effect on the massive switching board in front of him without tripping over all of the gear in front of him.

Excellent resource! Based on all the feedback and discussion, I picked up a Boss DD-20 giga delay and have great results. Curious if anyone has a suggestion to determine the correct delay setting for other artists. Any software to analyze the songs?

I would like to know if anyone has any website or manual that explain how to convine different effects and sounds in the "Ax10g" Korg modeling signal processor... so as to emule edge s sounds of U2 songs... Thanks, hope someone help me.. c ya

Hi Friends. Do someone know how can I simulate the sound at the begining of "Until the End of the World" (the low one, before the bass and drums). I also have a Boss GT-8, but it's been too difficult to get it. Thank you in advance.

I would like to know if anyone has any website or manual that explain how to convine different effects and sounds in the "Ax10g" Korg modeling signal processor... so as to emule edge s sounds of U2 songs... Thanks, hope someone help me.. c ya

If you look closely at the bottom left image on this lithograph from the U2 merchandise website, you can clearly see two of the Line 6 DM4's the Edge used on HTDAAB, in what looks like U2's Dublin studio. If you zoom in close enough, you may even be able to determine where each dial was set! There are some sticky notes below each preset buttom, probably indicating the song each preset was used for. http://www.fanfire.com/images/product/large/U2T/U2T35680.jpg I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has experimented with the DM4 and has tried to reproduce the HTDAAB sound. Tony

I have been playing with my Boss DD-20 and found a fun setting based on your published data and analysis - a modulated single repeat delay at 450 ms - producing a "concert" echo between the amps and microphones. It sounds great with Sunday Bloody Sunday, Desire, and other songs that did not have any heavy use of delay.

Hi friends. i need your help, please If someone have the tab of "original of the Species" for piano, or know where i can find it,please, send me an email!! My email address is gabe.hewson@hotmail.com thank you in advance c`ya

Mr Roar... The Edge is a great player and has influenced many players/bands in their playing and sound. Over-rated? No. The delay stuff IS his sound and trademark. You gotta lay off the cheeba and stop listening to Yngwie Malmsteen.

I was wondering (and i can be completely wrong but)why do i have the feeling that on slane castle 2001 on "streets" right in the beginning we can notice kind of slow attacck feeling right in the beginning of the song(cause we can see him playng and hitting the strings but the sound comes only at about 1 or 2 seconds later)and in the chorus part where he does those swinging chords and let the delay work for a while i kind of have a small slow attack feeling

I own both the DL4 and Boss DD20. Both dig delay w/modulation settings work great and I would describe the Boss unit as being a bit richer sounding. Without two delays going at the same time at different speeds as this site suggests, you can't get the sound to many of the songs. Don't underestimate the power of a compressor. Once you put a compressor in front of your delays the whole sound changes and it starts getting that Edge- like "wall of sound". The author of this site doesn't give it enough credit. It would be impossible to play "Bad" without it, or many others. I use the Boss CS-3 because it gives you separate controls for attack & sustain, a little more control than the 2 knob MXR. If you can't get your Edge sound quite right and aren't using a compressor, get one today and you won't regret it.

I have just recently purchased the TC electronic G-system and have been trying to get the delay right for "Where the Streets have no Name." Does anyone have any experience with using the G- system for Edge's delay. THanks

With respect to Jeff's post of November 10, 2006. Jeff are you suggesting that you can get close with only one delay pedal and a compression pedal in front or do you still need two separate delays after the compression? I recently purchased a made in Japan CS-2 from eBay (haven't received it yet), which according to GW, Sept. 2005, is the same pedal the Edge has in his arsenal. I believe the only difference between the CS-2 and CS-3 is the CS-3 has an EQ knob. Edge uses a separate EQ, the Boss GE-7 (GW, Sept. 2005). After doing a lot of digging and reading, I think another contributer to the Edge's sound comes from the Lovetone Doppelganger (it sits on top of Edge's cabinet). If you go to their website; http://www.lovetone.com/index2.html and listen to the sound samples, you can definitely hear that rich Edge sound, at least I can. Jeff, if you would like to respond directly to my question, I have included my email! Thanks!

First up, congrats on making sense of what i've been doing for 23 years!! 3/16ths you say? double delays you say? When i first heard streets if figured it followed a speech pattern similar to "in...y'face" so that what i based it on (i only had two rocktron?? ddls then!). Later i worked out a rough maths formula of the second delay being 1/4 more than the intitial delay at any given point. Maybe not totally correct but it got me through. The Edge (and I aint going fan boy here) inspired me to acutally stop doing air guitar and do it for real. This event occured one Sunday evening listening to Annie Nightingale when "Rejoice" was played. Here I was 12 Yr old and i was away!! Maybe Im "edge" clever or (more likely), because I have never been bogged down with American HR, british rock or Scandanavian widdle poodle widdle mmmeeeeeeaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I've always had "an Edge" sound. And its true that i spend more time shuffling effects than i do practising anything else !
(hence the sound if not the ability).But, having decided early on that its not how many notes you play but how many affect your feelings ( i give you "love is Blindness" live and smugly rest my case) I am happy that I know more about Delay patterns and compression than scales and chords. Anyhow, I digress. Looking through the many comments I am struck by the knowledge shown by many people (Scando Loving Twiddle Widdler's apart) BUT when it all comes down to it, lets not be overly anal about this stuff (to the point your going to run off home from your next gig if "Streets" dont sound like the R&H version and declare a fatwa on the sound guy cos he wouldnt tri-mic you amp at 3, 5 and 20 metres)and remember that if it makes you or those watchin you go "oo" it dont matter you only got an RP 1 and not a 24K plus rack behind you. If you play covers, chances are you could do "WOWY" on a banjo an no feck would know (as long as you look as if you know what your doing) and if!
you are an "original" then not getting it bang on should help you avoid some of the "you sound like the edge" commets (dont know if anyone remembers "the lebanon" by the human league but there is a case to wanting to be someone tooooooooo much). anyhow - rant over - sorry to those ex-pecting enlightenment (go play with your boxes - its much more fun to find it yourself) Have a nice day! Tricky

In the Early days the Edge used an Echoplex for his delayed sound. It's basically a big loop of 1/4" audio tape that is constantly recording and playing back. There was one fixed head and one adjustable head. The delay was made longer or shorter by the physical distance from head to head. A friend of mine had one - it was so big. we opened it up once to see what was inside: big empty box! I guess the Maestro Company (manufacturer) thought it needed to look bigger because of the sizeable delay you could get. P.S. U2 is the best band ever.

Why don't you guys try creating your own sound and style instead of ripping off of someone else. It's one thing to figure out how someone does something and develop something yourself from it, but this sound has already been done to death. What a waste of time.

great site for all guitarists. good to have a prespective on the edges guitar work. i have the very same black strat, but with the,org,pick ups, and have used a binson and copy cat delay units, running through a marshall stack, and surprisingly i can get that u2 tone very well. the thing thats most important in getting it, is the way you pick and damp the strings, as ive since birth have held a jim dunlop 60mm,plectrum upside down,and this has given me a fatter tone and more drive, to the point of bending it at times. and also, his natural rythem is worth listining to, which was not mentioned,.hes flawless in that department.

This site provided some amazing guidelines to try. I typically use my American Strat (HSS), I've always been using Dunlap dimpled picks and for some reason I have always held them sideways and firmly with little nylon showing. I could never get that Edge sound. I recently put .11 strings on (always used 9's)-- and BAM! For me, it changed the sound, playability and through the POD XT PRO--- I GET THE RING, the Texture, etc... I am just a sample of one-- but I am there... I can't believe it. All from just a string change.

this site rocks!! I luv the Edge's style. Its all about what is right for the song man! I dig all the discussion but as with just about anything musical - there are many ways to pull off Edge-like sounds - all the variety described is beautiful. There is only one Edge. Kudos to the U2 lads for sticking together for so long and getting so much done. Speaking of a tough study --- has anyone tried to comp the awesome Nick Drake?! .....sweet dreams MH

I forgot one thing in my last post...2 many guitarheads do not appreciate the contribution made by an amplifier. It may not be a 1964 AC50, but go into a music store and play through a Vox AC30CC2X 30W 2x12 Custom Classic Combo with Vox Celestion Blue Speakers ( Whardale speakers a good budget alternative). I'm willing to bet you could plug an electric toothbrush into an AC30 and already own a good piece of that Edge sound!!! nuff said ..Peace

Hi, first i've got to say well done on a brilliant job. This page is really informative and brilliantly done. It seems to me that people can over-analyse and start to use mathmatics when creating their guitar sound, when they should probably be using their ears. Although the edge uses a 3/16th delay a lot, i would bet in the studio he just fiddled around with the knobs on the delay until it sounded good. All i'm trying to say here guys and girls is don't forget to use your ears. I work as a music producer and this is one of the most common problems i come across with otherwise excellent musicians. Happy playing everyone!

Mikey: Very very true. I actually went out and purchased a Vox AC30CC2 (with the wharfedale speakers) and I get some INSANE edge tones. If you think about it, its almost the same amp (minus the speaker combination - i think the edge uses a Blue and a Silver?)....However, its the AC30 'chime" and brittleness that you need in combination with some pretty bang on delay settings to get the edge tone/sound. My combination of a Vox AC30CC2 and a Boss DD20 Giga Delay gets me GOD DAMN close to the edge tone on a budget. I am playing an Epiphone Les Paul custom Limited Edition and a 60th Anniversary Diamond American Stratocaster. Make sure you plug into the top boost channel, and just experiment with the knobs. Don't forget the herdim picks as well! :D -David

Nick (Nov 27 post), For Elevation, Edge uses a what he calls the "Rab Fuzz" because one of his tech custom built it. Essentially, you need to house the electronics from an old vintage Kay Fuzz pedal (yellow plastic pedal of poor quality) into a wah case. The wah controls the tone control on the Kay Fuzz electroncs (its not actually a whammy effect). As he moves the pedal, the tone changes and you get the famous Elevation sound. He uses this Fuzz in a few places in the song, but also changes to a second distortion setting from one of his other vintage pedals or the POD XT Pro. The Edge is amazing at combining old and new. Michael

Happy new year to you all U2 lovers. And a special thank YOU to Tim Darling who runs this site and give us lessons about how the guitar is meant to be played to sound like the Edge. Now there's no more excuses to not get the sound right. Thank you from my heart, you have made my guitarplaying so much more fun. Lasse from Sweden.

Awesome site! You know whats strange. I have noticed after figuring out the edges songs, while playing them my pick tends to turn sideways. I allow it to happen because as I'm playing my ear is telling my hand what to do as I'm playing. I've never heard of the Edge playing that way until I read it on your site. Very weird! I have found your site useful as I am "technically challenged". I have a good ear, but I have never been that good at mastering the electronics. Thanx again.

Hi again, this is Scott from march 28, 2005. In addition to what I wrote, use Jim Dunlop black 'heavy' picks for Boy/October era U2. Use a Vox valvetronix amp on top boost setting with gain knob about 10 o'clock, use the black Dunlops picked sideways, use Electro Harmonix Memory Man Deluxe - figure the settings, use the '57 Gibson gold top pickups at least for the bridge which is what Edge uses, use an explorer - whether Korina or Mahogany,... do all that and you're about there for Boy/October era, live bootlegs of that era, etc....the rest is up to your use of the equipment and your style.

Awesome page - good work! Regarding the question about the tone on Elevation, I got to see Daniel Lanois play not too long ago at a small theater, where I was in the front row center, about 10 ft from him. He had a weird orange pedal on his board with the name "Elevation" on it. Hmmm. Talked to him after the show, got him to autograph my jacket, and when asked, he said that he turned Edge onto that pedal, and that it is the distortion on Elevation. So there you go. BTW, Daniel is an amazing guitar player in his own right and the nicest guy. Also, as I am the owner of a Korg SDD-3300, which is 3 of the 3000s together, with MIDI, and as one who has owned tons of different pedals and gear (including the DD20, DL4, 2290, G-Force, etc), let me tell you, they're not even close. There's a reason Edge has kept it all these years. Peace..

Thanks, Tim - you're fabulous. And I'm improving: Meanwhile I got my Stratocaster/ Gibson, one AC30 1965 (silver bd) and one AC30 1962 (blue bd) and a boss sd-1 tube screamer and a boss dd-20 gigadelay. The distorted, modulated stereo delay sounds just fantastic - three dimensional... :-)...!... Today I ordered herdims instead of dunlop nylon. And I'm still looking for two korgs. But I have just one question: Does anyone know how to dial a 3/16 and a 9/32 delay in dual mode into the boss dd-20 gigadelay? I'm helpless. Thanks for a tip. Martin

About The Edge Fender Tweed Deluxe amps (app.: 22W) He have 2 of them, a 1957 and a 1959 5E3 Tweed Deluxe with original 12" Jensen alnico magnet Speaker (by the way, if you want to buy a deluxe replica, don,t buy any new Jensen speaker, they are very cheap and they don't sound anything like the original, if you want a perfect replica of the old Jensen deluxe speaker, try the WEBER 12A125 Alnico... The tubes in both his fender 5E3 deluxe are : Rectifier tube : 5Y3 Power tube : 2 x 6V6 Preamp tube 2 : 12AX7 Preamp tube 1 : 12AY7 There was a video included with a 2005 Guitar World Magazine of The Edge talking about the Fender 5E3 Deluxe and Vox AC30 Thanks

Great site. Just wanted to add what I haven't seen much of anywhere...David Evans does use some great sounding gear and it's surely part of his signature, but little has been said about the awesome feel the man has for the guitar and has concentrated on making a sound that so many of us "feel" also. A friend was asking me how to work with delays and since I use them quite a bit..as most of us do..I told him it isn't so much the delay...just set the repeat rate, modulation and feedback to what you like then YOU play IT...don't let IT play YOU..if that makes sense.. I think many of us in trying to make similar tone to David get too caught up in the gear part of it and forget about the "personal" touch we should have as musicians..that's not a cut on anyone by any means, I just feel we could all achieve our musical goals better if we just would approach it with our ears instead of our gears... Rock on with a reason.!!

Most guitarist (me include) who can tolerate any of the Edge's playing accedits the delay to the fact that it covers up what a horrible player da edge is. Put a bunch of monkeys in a room with a guitar and delays hooked up and your get a U2 song with a couple of hours ! Try it .

Hi Does anyone have any experience with the T Rex Replica. I find it very difficult to use that tap tempo footswitch. The tap tempo sets the delay time, the length of the delay, and does not adjust the delay to the tempo of the song (bpm). Is that normal for a delay pedal. I mean if Pride goes 108 bpm with a 3/16 delay, how would you make a 3/16 tap with a 4/4 in your back? Best regards Ulrik

hi the site is really good i am working on vertigo and i would like to know what are the setting of the edge's delay on the solo and on the second verse if someone could answer me there or on usealone@hotmail.com it would be cool thanks. ps : sorry for me english i'm french

Hi, first of all i d like to thank you for this wonderful site. I own a multieffect vox tonelabse and would be very grateful if someone could tell me the main settings to play U2 songs, I mean to try to play U2 songs. Thanks a lot

Hey, this is very good work. I'm playing songs of U2 for three years and each day I'm getting better and better. But this is a good eye opener for me. It realy works with the delay in the songs. Esspacialy when I play "PRIDE". Great work.

gt8 - use the stereo dual L/R delay - that emulates dual stereo outs - considering you should have two amps on setup fro the gt8. emulate one channel to one delay setting(korg setting). as well as the other(TC setting). cheers, turi

I love U2!!! They are like the best! I have the cd U2 18 Singles and I try to get my mom to play it for me every time. I wish that I could have all of U2's 291 cd's! I think The Edge was so handsome when he was young. My favorite song is With or Without You, but I love all their songs. Once I brought in a U2 cd for music share and they were a hit! My mom thinks The Edge is the most talented and so do I. Oh, by the way, please make this as an e-mail to U2 if you can. Thank you! Say hi to U2 for me! Especially The Edge! Bye-Bye for now!

Great job on this site! You've totally gone above and beyond in explaining how to get The Edge's delay sounds! It would also be cool to know his specific amp settings, guitars and pickups... I've had success with using the BOSS DD-20, although, the sounds aren't "Modeled" as they are with the Line 6 DL-4. The most success I've had was using the DD-20 along side of a DD-5 (hard to find.) Put both in your fx loop, and hook an insert cable from one external tapping device (BOSS FS-5U) and into both the DD-20 and the DD-5. Set the DD-20 to ANALOG or MODULATE (MODULATE breaks up really nice, but sometimes clashes with the DD-5) and set it to dotted eighths. Set the DD-5 to quarter notes, and run them at the same time. It works great. You can use any delay pedals really, as long as they have external tapping capability. The LINE 6 Fleztone 3 also has a "PING PONG" setting, which when turned all the way to the right, does the same thing. Keep echoin'!

Hey! Great tips here.. Especially the tips regarding the picks Edge uses. I'v been using them for some time now and the do all the difference! They are called Herdim and he uses the blue (blaue) ones and you can order them online at this German music site: http://www.tone-toys.com/de/Herdim.html Good luck!

any links on how his signal path runs and how he keeps a "vox" tone on such a huge rack? I know its Skydstrup and/or bradshaw with maybe pete cornish thrown in but i cant believe the mystery on how its all connected

Spockable: If you would try the picks you will se the difference. Play only with half the pick. The rugged side makes that special egde sound. I have loads of the "right" edge pedals but together with this blue pick it's amazing.

Hi I just bought the Visual sound H20 what is a great pedal. It's really easy to use and dial op nice U@ sounds, I could get a nice Streets sounds in a few tweaks without ever working before with the unit. Greating ferry

Someone said edge was the best guitar player in the 80's? what about Brian May, he had one hell of a sound and used delay in his solos him and the Edge are unique, I like guitar players like this I can't stand guys like Steve Vai that just blast a million notes per sec all over the place the best guitar players keep it simple or well thought out/catchy with heart and emotion added

fantastic site! does anyone know the settings for edge,s "anthems" vox ac30, the tone controls.He must have these set at one setting as you can not switch them using his floor board. will we ever see a signature edge/ac30. cheers.

WHAT A RESOURCEFUL SITE ! I've been playing U2 songs with the line 6 stomp box for 2 years now. It does the job but it's not as sweet as the recording. I finally bought a sdd3000 (cashed an RRSP !) and will use the settings on this site to load the unit. I'll probably end up using both delya units depending on songs. I'll update you on reults..many thanks to Tim for his info !

was just raking around in one of my cupboards and found an old guyatone distortion zoom box(late 70's) which i'm led to believe is one of the first distortion stomps that the edge used. Anyway i hooked it up and was pleasantly surprised!! kind of like a fuzz face but seems to bring through the true signal better. probably pick one up on ebay for cheap!

I sat down with my Guitar Rig 2 tonight and tweaked up a fairly close proximity of U2 sounds by following the concepts elucidated here. Thanks for the homework and perspectives. It is nice to add something new to my pattern vocabulary. For those elitists who look down their long noses at the manner in which U2's songs are created, I will quote Einstein "perfection of means and confusion of goals characterize our age". Why are you critical of Edge? Do you compare yourself to Segovia? What have you written or created? Where then is this proof of your clarity of vision? If you take it upon yourself to criticize, then do us all the favor and post your superior creations so that we may all be astounded by your artistry, skill and illumination. I am just saying put up or shut up. U2's beauty and artistry is found in their ability to connect and communicate on an emotional level and not be distracted from that singular vision by the technology or the music theory. If
you think mastery of music theory confers some kind of perfection allowing one to transcend the limitations of earthy inspiration, then you haven't listen to McCartney's symphony. I'm afraid the old boy wasted good money on an education that wasn't needed in the first place. The simplest answer is usually the best one,... and in that i've failed here. It is truly a gift to be able to separate oneself from the method and clearly see the goal. I love how they (U2) do it... in their own Irish way. Thanks for pulling back the curtain a bit and letting us see inside the process.

Hello everyone, thank's for the site it' s help me a lot for study edge's
delay. Have you looking the dallas (edge's technician) fan's site, here
the link for the watching good video to explain edge' effect and set up on
tour!! don't miss!! Here the link!!
http://www.swaggerandstyle.com/dallas/audio.html

Great info! After seeing them perform in '83, I've been hooked, especially on the edges approach. I notice there hasn't been much emphasis on his #1 AC30. Apparently it's an odd US made tube version with Bulldogs, around 1967. It's the one with the ring around the VOX logo and U2 stenciled on the side. I'd love to know more about this amp. The closest I've come to this tone is with my '63 Strat through a 'script logo' Dyna Comp, then into an SDD3000(@+10DB) with a 64 Top Boost. I almost fainted..With that said, I still believe that it really doesn't matter what gear he uses..it's all in his hands (the pick upside down of course..)

One more comment. My guitar tech actually installed the Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounders in one of Edge's black Strats when they were in Vancouver in May 1983. All three pickups were swapped. I remember him telling me this over 20 years ago.

Hello,could you tell me please, if there's a web site, who talk about the settings of the memory man deluxe, to play early U2 songs. I have a memory man deluxe, and it's a little bit hard, to found the real settings with theses 5 black knobs. I like to play early U2 song , so if you can help me , I will be very happy. Thank You Jerome from France.

This ismn't a question of Edge's delay technique, more a question to all you u2 fans/guitarists ou there. I'm playing next Friday and I really want to nail the sound for "One". I'm told its a rotary speaker effect but I just cant get it with my GT-8.. I know its in there somewhere! Any advice guys? (FX and times etc? ) Cheers, Gerry, Glasgow.

to say he is a shit guitarist and all that bullshit is not relevent. it is that he is a unique guitarist who has paved the way for many more to come along and copy his style. i think there is no such thing as the best guitarist in the world because the criteria is uncomprehendable. peace

Check out this link for a cool delay calculator. Just put in the tempo of the song and click calculate. Scroll down to where it says Dot 1/8 note. That is the milliseconds you want to put into your delay unit to achieve the dotted eight (3/16) delay that is characteristic of The Edge.
http://mp3.deepsound.net/eng/samples_calculs.php

Wazzz upppp, Great job on your research for U2's guitar delays! I agree with most of your delays but (not to be critical) I think "Still Haven't Found what I am Looking for" is completly off. It definitly sounds cool how you have it but I believe the delay time for this song is basically the same as the Pride delay time and possibly even the delay time for Bad depending on how fast you want to play it. If you listen to the version on Rattle and Hum when he plays the guitar by itself, you'll see what I am talking about. Also "Wire" seems off too! I am not sure if it is the picking rythmn or if the delay timing is wrong. I am going to work on these songs with my new "unit" and hopefully I can give some feedback. I think you are doing an excellent job and are definitly helping the many Edge fans out there!

Hi, I think this site is good but the audio didnt really knock my socks off.Do u have anything updated.Im just a Edge junky thats been trying to get his sounds for years and im just a fussy prick.i think though its all too complicated very unlike what id expect Edge to do.?What are your opinions.

Hi Tim. Edge uses two amps but not for the "stereo room" effect. In fact he uses one for a clean sound eg Streets and another for overdrive eg UTEOTW. On tour you will see four, this is because he has 2 spares onstage. The reason I say this is because 1) Dallas has talked about this on many occasions and 2) If you've ever mic'd two guitar amps the dB level between the two amps through one of their microphones is so massive you would NEVER hear the further away amp and even if you did it would be really muffled. The stereo effect you may have heard is a post production reverb (Are you talking about Rattle and Hum with this sound?) Listen to any soundboard recordings, this effect is never there (except for the 40ms delay in Sunday Bloody Sunday.) His guitar sound is also mono live. (POPmart even had a mono PA).

fantastic site, glad to see you got a mention in guitarist magazine. has anyone tried the new tc electronic nova delay pedal based on the "2290" its really close to the original and a hell of a lot cheaper, i am using it with my korg sdd2000 and with a bit of tweaking able to get a lot closer to that "sound" still looking for a sdd3000 but these seem to be getting rarer by the day..... come on korg pull your finger out!

GOOD SITE!!!! I enjoy reprograming all of my delays settings. This site helps to me, and I learn something about the delays and tempos. But and modulation???? As everebody knows Edge uses a digital delay with modulation. Bye

The delay settings are obviously most important, however guitar selection, pickup selection, preamps, etc, also play a large role in analyzing what the edge is doing. If you run a behringer v-amp pro into any clean amp channel, it comes close to a AC-30, my blues deluxe sounds spot on it. I use a dd20, in conjunction with the ac30 sound on the v-amp, with one channel on the amp clean direct, and one channel affected by the behringer, and with a dd20 on its modulation setting in the effects loop (which I have found sounds better past the amps preamp, and if you set the behringer v-amp to the echo setting for a short delay, you can create a stereo delay efect in a mono channel), that all sounds especially mint with a strat in the neck pickup position, or between the neck and middle position depending on your tone knobs. I know that may sound like a lot to digest, hell it makes sense in my head, also the looper on the dd20 comes in helpful for thd droning on blinding lights

I have seen positive comments about this article and people visiting this page since 2004!!!! That says a lot ! Thanks for keeping this article up for the masses.Such a detailed and informitive article that brings great insight about an intuitive player like The Edge -

I currently use both a Boss DD-2 and a Roland Space Echo RE-20 for a combination of Edge Sounds. To get the old (and some new) U2 sounds on the RE-20, choose mode #2, set the rate all the way to the right, intensity all the way to the left, and echo about 10' O'clock -- nails the Sunday Bloody Sunday and Vertigo sounds (add some OD). Used in a stereo amp set up (2 amps are Fender HRD and a vox) Fender for clean and Vox for OD WITH the stero output of both the DD-2 and RE-20 is a great edge like sound.

This is an extraordinary work you've done here. You've dissected one of the more intricate guitar sounds out there, explained it clearly, and in the process teach how to use a delay unit. I bought a Line 6 Echo Park a few years ago and never quite got the feel for it. Thanks for your clear explanations and especially for the sound clip examples. Obviously a lot of work went into this, and its great that you've shared what you learned with the rest of us.

Wow what a site! Its kind of trippin' me out how there is a study to one mans guitar sounds... I think i speak for everyone when i say, "the man is brilliant". Wether it was coincidents or on purpose, you can see that he really did his homework on being a great guitar player "with or without" his effects.. I mean think about it.. We have a whole STUDY just on The Edge's sound and its STILL kinda hard to play and get that warmth of the U2 sound. I dont wanna play like the Edge or steal his sound but im super happy i got to see this site because it really opens your eyes as a guitar player or even just a true musician. The U2 sound is deffenitely going down on the record books. OH yea.. Their concerts are probably the best experience ive ever had.

Hy! I want to thank you for your work, really amazing. I'm just 16, started playing guitar by myself 10 months ago. In september, I'm going to buy an Standard Fender Strato, a Vox amp (deciding which is going to be, maybe the da15 or de valvetronix ad15), but I'm still trying to figure out which delay device I'm going to buy. I'm a real huge Edge fan. Would you recomend me sincerely the Echo Park stompbox as a start? Thanks, and regards

Great work. Thanks for sharing. I recently got to see the U2 3d IMAX movie. It brought back so many memories of one of my favorite bands from the '80s/90s. Your work here gives me even more appreciation of their music. Thanks again.

On the intro and solo parts, He uses an E-bow. for that mega sustain. along with the delay, and max reverb. at first i used a cello bow, but the ebow is definately what hes using this is a clip of the ebow in action on with or with out you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e36HBP5a-lc feel free to email me...

Excellent, incredible work is impressive your knowledge !! Congratulations!! I have bought a Vox tone lab SE Someone could help me with the patches to obtain a good sound U2? Always I will be grateful. Regards and Thanks in advance Jose jcto@mundo-r.com

-- , Mar 23, 2008

Hey! Great site! It really is very impressive. Anyways, I use the Boss DD-20, and have found that using the modulation setting between 35 and 45 produces a great tone. It's also the easiest pedal I've ever seen for setting the tempo, as you can input bpm, msc or tap. Great pedal.

Great website!!! I'm confused, your showing the EDGE guitar setup with a left and right amp / STEREO mic setup......makes sense! ...however I read from U2 producer that back when they did BAD / unforgettable fire they used a MONO Vox / split through a harmonizer to get it back to stereo???? Then addded the delays? Email me with any comments...thanks!

Hi Tim, You are correct about there sometimes being shorter delays/echoes hovering around the longer ones. However, it is not something being picked up from nearby open microphones several feet away. It is actually a lot more complex. FYI, there is an exact duplicate of Edge's entire rack under the stage which is controlled by him or someone else with the flip of a switch. So what you see on effects unit meters and such on the U2 live video footage means nothing. The actual processors he is using are hidden out of sight. The stage rack could be a prop for all anyone knows. It's a show...you can count on it being a prop. On songs like "All I want is you" and "Where the Streets have no name". The delay arrangement is quite a bit more interesting as you suggest. Your observations are almost correct however two or three digital delays are used in these situations. the huge sound wall of echo that you hear on U2 records is the result of shorter slap echoes
that modulate in pitch feeding into longer delays that also modulate in pitch. The accumulation of the delays and modulation on modulation gives you something more like a wall of reverberant texture which is exactly what Edge is doing a lot of the time. This came about through a combination of experiments done by a combination of people at different times all colliding. Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Michael Brook, The Edge and to a lesser degree others who were around the Grant Avenue studio in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada were all responsible for the sound which The edge has become famous for. Hamilton, Ontario Canada is where this ambient treatment sound of feeding effects devices like echo, delay, reverb and modulation all into each other using the send and return matrix of a mixing console originated from. These are the folks who mostly realized this sound. To a lesser degree people like Bob Lanois, David Botrill, Harold Budd had great influence too !
but Eno was definitely the spark that started the ball rolling when he showed up at Grante Ave in the late 70's to get away from his regular environment. Canada's musical landscape and abstract thinkers like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young appealed to the younger Eno. Lanois was another Canadian abstract thinker along with his brother Bob who had a studio based not in great technique but in great vibe and comfort. A place you wanted to be because it was relaxing to be there which made you play better and be more creative. In "All I want is you" the delay guitar is a mono track and the chain is like this: Guitar > SDD-3000 > SDD-3000 > Vox AC30 In "Where the streets have no name" it is done like this: Guitar > SDD-3000 > splitter box > TC2290 > AC30#1 > TC2290 > AC30#2 The first SDD-3000 is setup for shorter echoes. The guitar often goes into a single SDD-3000 which is setup to do "slap" echo: Something between 80
and 200 ms Feedback set to repeat a little just like an echoplex or Roland Space echo would. The hi and low pass filters on the SDD-3000 are set to roll off at 125Hz on the bottom and 4 kHz on the top to simulate the increasingly darkening repeats and the inherent generation loss of each repeat in a tape delay based system. Modulation is set to triangle waveform, about .50 Hz is the speed you want for the LFO in the modulation section with the depth up just a little until you can percieve that the delay is moving a little and this creates the wow effect of tape delay. SO now you have a guitar with a slapback type echo on it like the effect on Elvis' voice or John Lennon. That sound kind of becomes more of a reverb sounding effect. That is how you hear it anyway and then you feed that into the longer modulating delays that often show up in U2 songs between 350 and 450 ms. This is how and why the sound is so lush an more complex than you are able to get with just
delays running in parallel. In "All I want is you" the output of the first SDD-3000 setup to to slap echo reverberant type of sound feeds into either a single SDD-3000 set to do between 350 and 450 ms of delay with several repeats. The modulation on the second unit is setup for triangle LFO and the filters are set to roll off at 250Hz on the low filter and flat on the hi filter. Modualtion is set for a rate of 5Hz (6 on the SDD-3000 knob) and depth gets turned up untilk you hear the repeats wobble (about 1.5 on the knob) I believe the same effect is used on "Walk On" and other songs. Alternatively in "Where the Streets have No Name" the output of the first SDD-3000 doing it's slap echo feeds into two TC2290 delays setup to both do longer modulation delays similarly setup like the second SDD-3000 in the example above for "All I want is you". The TC's don't have the LFO set to Triangle but Sine wave because they do not offer triangle wave. The TC rol!ls off a 200Hz on the low side and flat on the high side with no rolloff. Sine wave is a little smoother on the pitch wobble than the triangle wave of the SDD-3000. However those two TC 2290 delays are set like this: TC2290 1) 8th note delay - left side TC2290 2) dotted 8th note delay - right side The outputs of each TC delay feed two seperate amps.

About me: I'm a mixing engineeer and have spent over 30 years listening to effects at the console while mixing records for people. I know what I am hearing and I don't need to slow it down to hear it. I have used every processor in the Edge's rack and more. They are all Studio classics like the AMS DMX 15-80s, TC2290 and the H3000. There are some units that are a big part of the U2 swound that are not in Edge's rack but he uses substitute devices such as the Yamnaha SPX-90 and Lexicon PCM81 to create a version of that sound because some of these things...especially one that I won't mention (so ebay prices !
don't skyrocket) which looks like a droid from Star Wars is not something you want to take on the road. Very expensive...over 25 years old...no more spare parts available...etc. Those processors are left at U2 headquarters and used only when needed on mixes at the console. Let's just say that U2 owns the best reverb unit ever made, one fo the first digital revebs ever developed and it's about the size of two PC computers and weighs a lot and has controls on it that look like it's from the inside of the starship enterprise. The Treatments on U2 records get a lot more complicated than this! A lot more!!! Let me tell you...no one will ever cop those sounds. Not even Brain and Dan can re-create them the exact same way because most of those treatments are days and days of expeimentation going in a direction guided only by intuition and no map to trace your steps backwards. Best of luck everyone!

Would anyone know what the high pitched effect on the Beautiful Day solo is? I assume its an octave based effect like a Digitech Whammy, but there seems to be more to it (to my ears). Any input is much appreciated! Dan M.

The edge has a lot of toys, which do help with the sounds...but sounding like him really isnt a tough feat. basically, get a vox ac30, a strat, and a dd20 and set it to dotted 8th echo...tap in the tempo and stroke some 8th notes...BAM you're the edge in your own living room. rock on, tyler

Hi there, Enjoyed your article on The Edge. Would you have any information on trying to get a keyboard by using its midi input to "follow" chords played on an electric guitar? My band were trying out "Bad", "Running to stand still" which would benefit from a "strings ensemble" type sound following the guitar. Thanks, Brendan

Brilliant site! I have been learning Streets and Pride. While I have the notes down, the sound is "missing something" So I just ordered a DD-20, herdim picks, and .11 strings. I can't wait to try them out. I will let you how it goes when they arrive. Thanks for your efforts and generosity to share your work!

Well I want to say that I have enjoyed the site!!! I recently got back to playing the guitar after a 18 year break. I was in a band years ago pre-marrige pre-chridren. We use to play a couple of U2 songs, Streets and I will follow. I might say that this was a very difficult thing to achieve back in the late 80's before the "web" before Tab? I remember have a tape recording of them and we would sit there and forever be rewinding the tape to work out the chords and lyrics. A song like "Where The Streets Have No Name" would take us upto 6 weeks to workout and practice before playing it live. Because you couldn't even purchase the music let alone download it. I Just want to say Thank the person responsible for the World Wide Web!!!!! What an awesome learning tool!!!! I also want to say that now at the age of 41, I'm in the final process of putting together a U2 tribute band here in Australia. I know that there are already plenty around but hey! What's one more.
The last thing I want to metion is the quality of gear out there and how cheap it is now. I have had tube amps before but I fallen in love with the Line 6 Flextone 3 whith the short board. To think that I can present up to 36 U2 songs without dialing in my old delay pedal is awesome!!! How easy it in 2008?? All the best! Dan

I also want to let everyone out there know about the great story I saw on Youtube about u2's stage set up.
"U2 Wired for sound" Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 Have a look at all these videos, they run for about 9 mins each and
go into all areas of the stage including the Edges guitar tech! In the Elevation tour, The Edge uses 12
guitars on stage and also has 12 spare exactly the same incase of a broken string etc. So thats twenty 24
guitars on tour. Also you all must remember that the Egde has different tunings.

First of all, congratulations for this fundamental study.....has been done an incredible job. All of us are grateful you!! Help!!!!!!!!! I have the Nova Delay (TC Elecronics) and I can say < It's amazing......perfect to play U2> but there's a problem for me:I don't know how to save the 9 preset available......SOMEONE CAN HELP ME?

A few comments on years of experimenting with this in cover bands: a) those Herdim picks make a difference once you get used to playing them upside-down and "scraping" the strings. Sounds more Edge like for sure, b) I've gone through the regular delays, DD20, Line 6 DL4. Got ok sounds through all of them. DD20 at least gives you the exact delay ms. I sold them all and am using Eventide Timefactor. Delays and modulation as good or better than the previous mentioned delays, more presets, and you can use 2 delays simultaneously in one unit. You blend the 2 delay levels together on one knob to find your mix. Maybe not as versatile as 2 separate delays, but easier and the quality of the unit sounds as good if not better. I recommend it. Warning: the unit is sold with a "Streets" preset that is incorrect - set up your own preset. c) Compression is important, use it. If you don't have a rack of effects, it can add some serious depth to the sound of your delays. d) Use of a strat is important to a lot of the music ("Streets" for example).

Hi everyone. I have also spent a lot of time studying the Edge's effects, signal paths and tones. Here are two links to my recordings (you don't have to download files on eSnips): http://www.esnips.com/web/GuitarRecordings-U2 or http://cid-076e1b68de94bf32.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/U2% 20Recordings The better recordings are NYD, BDay and Vertigo, as others were rushed. If anyone has any questions, you can email me at mohare@gmail.com. Michael

A couple comments to previous questions / posts: 1) For Streets (and other classics), the trick to the tone is the Korg SDD3000 delay (with its unique preamp) driving the AC- 30 (and not the effects loop). The output of the pre-amp in the 3000 should be set to +4 db, which drives the preamp of the AC- 30 is a very wonderful way (slightly driven, warm sound). So you can't get Streets and many other songs just with the right pick, delay and amp (but you will come close). But don't spend the money on an SDD3000, just buy a Triad from Psionic Audio (its a perfect, better replica of the SDD3000 preamp). 2) Edge does NOT have a second rig of processors under the stage. I have confirmed this with many people in the business and others who have been back stage throughout the years. Yes, they have jad other musicians under the stage for synth and/or other parts (they use backtracks often also), but Edge's rack on stage is THE rig and you can see all the preset changes
during the show. See the BBC interviews and you will see the entire rack in action. Dallas, his guitar tech, is on the side of the stage controlling many of the preset changes (this is true) when Edge can't do it from his MIDI floor controller. HOWEVER, there is no secret second rig. The rig and signal paths are complicted in that it's difficult to figure out exactly what Edge is using, but for any one song or part of a song, the path and settings are not as complex as some have posted here. Also, keep in mind that Edge has changed his signal path and settings many times over the years (e.g., NYD Slane has an SD-1 distortion and during Vertigo he used the FA-1 boost only and it does not sound as full). If you don't believe me, please hear my clips (see previously posted message). I've only been studying this two years, and if I can get the delays/tones very close on BDay, NYD, Vertigo, etc., then it's not so complicated that Edge needs to hide an
entire rig. Respectfully, Michael

All these are very interesting and useful. Great project. But what about the sound of the Edge. I mean except delay sound the drive sound. I can't find a way to match the delay sounds with a proper drive to give the "clear" Drive that edge has, for example NEW YEARS DAY. Any ideas. Thanks

Would be interested in your thoughts on the Eventide Timefactor delay. I am really happy with it, though I had been using the digital delay setting. Since reading your site further, I will go back and play with it's mod delay setting more. I have used your site to set my presets for all my U2 covers. If you play many U2 songs a unit like the Timefactor is key, because you have presets and you have a digital readout to set the delay. I was previously using my DD-5 and it was such a headache. Now I spend more time playing and less time trying to get the dealy set right. Tonight I read your explanation on calculating 3/16 notes based on the bpm, which will really help me as I am playing using sequenced backing music with my computer, so I can further refine the sound now that I understand. What is the difference between using a dual delay like the Timefactor has versus running two delays through 2 amps like you say the edge does?

I am new at all of this and was wondering if someone would please help me by explaining how I rig my effects in Stereo. I have an SKB PS45 pedalboard and a bunch of stompboxes, some of which are stereo capable. I have two amplifiers but I just cant find out how (if at all possible) to rig the effects in stereo.

Hey, I've managed to achieve a pretty accurate U2 sound with a Korg AX3000G Multi FX Processor, and a Classic Player 50's Strat, but I'm planning to upgrade soon to a DD20. Basically all you need to do is set the delay to modulation and tap in the delay timings given in this website. They're all pretty reliable. Also, do NOT forget to use a Compressor pedal and hold your pick sideways.

Happy New Year to all the U2/EDGE fans out there. Well someones finally done it. Fractal Audio have more or less managed to squeze The Edge.s set up in to a 2u rack processor The Axe-FX is simply stunning, i dont own one yet! but i will at some point. visit YOUTUBE and have a look for yourself. No line on the Horizon will be out March 2nd 2009 its gonna be a good year!!!!!

Just so you all know, the picks make a huge difference in your sound. If you want to sound like The Edge, you have to (among other things, obviously) use Herdim picks. These picks are dimpled on one side, usually to help your grip, but Edge uses them backwards, so that the dimples grate against the strings, causing a sort of scratchy sound. So, if you want to sound like the Edge, use Herdim picks, Heavy thickness (blue color) and turn them backwards with the dimples grating against the strings. These picks are very rare, but they're available here (http://www.prussiavalley.com/Pick- HER004-HerdimTeardropRoundedTip-nylon.htm) for something like 85 cents apeice. Hope this helps!

Hello, Programmed a quite close idea for Streets & Bad & With or With you on a Digitech LE2101 with the help of this site and using a second foot controllers on the control one pedals for managing effect mix, & volume & feedback on these songs. It's not perfect but matches quite well, so if anybody's interested just request the patch per mail.

Hi there everyone, great site. I just bought the DD20 and love it. I am very new to this delay stuff, actually a little overwhelmed. Does anyone have like a table-like graph with a column stating the name of the song, the setting on the DD20 for every knob and the # of ms. That would be so much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Over the years there's been a number comments on this site bashing The Edge - ridiculing his simplicity and style. I myself was not a big U2 fan until the past five years. As a musician I have matured and discovered the value of Edge's style. And I regret not paying attention to his playing much earlier. Is he the "greatest" player ever? Probably not! Then again greatness is subjective. That said, The Edge IS great at what he does, and I believe he will be recognized as one of the top five major guitar influences in rock history. Like it or not, he and his bandmates are clearly a defining line in rock music. Just listen to music pre and post U2. The Edge has made simplicity cool and desirable. And just to be clear, when I use the word "simplicity" I don't mean lack of skill. He has shown us how to use delay tastefully and effectively as a tool to breath life into simple phrases and melodies that support the song. Before you bash the Edge, think about how you can apply
his style and ideas along side yours to enhance your creativity. Had I learned this lesson long ago I would be light years ahead of where I am today. Brilliant site. Thanks for creating it! I will be studying it for a long time.

Thanks you, thank you, thank you!!!!! I've always wanted to play like the Edge. I bought all the gear mentioned here including the exact picks and strings Edge uses. I then got a friend to help me set it all up just right. I was so exited that I sort of forgot I can't actually play the guitar for toffee!!!!! But as it turned out it wasn't an issue at all. arf arf arf !

The Edge has the most wonderful, chimey guitar sound I've heard. The only person that comes close is Jon Buckland from Coldplay. Love those Strat's and Tele's when they sound like bells ringing. Thanks for the lesson in thinking outside the square with delay! God Bless.

hi. i'm from Portugal and i use the mxr carbon copy delay, and bought recently de EH Stereo memory man to double delay and to stereo it. After reading this site i m going to study very hard to finaly get similar Edge delay. Best Regards

when i first found this site i had set out to emulate the edge's sound. after experimenting on my own and coming back to this site again and again it has helped a lot in building my own sound. great site and keep up the good work!

ive been trying to get the repeats right on streets for years with no success, looking at you tube and my freinds band they never get THAT vibe when the repeats double up and it almost "plays its self." But i think ive cracked it !!! using a boss dd5 i am setting a click at 125 bpm & tapping 5 subdivisions over this creating a sort of polyrythm, run the guitar part and it takes on a life of its self!! at last my favourite riff of all time sussed out!!! i want to get a delay with milseconds on it and have been looking at the tc nova, any one got an opinion on it??

Lots of positive energy going on here. I have been studying The Edge technique as well and find this thread to be quite ressorceful. I actually have picked up on a lot of Ideas watching Youtube. Great sorce for information. Some of the effects that may not have been mentioned, and we know the Edge likes his stompboxes, is the MMD "Minuteman Deluxe", and the Whammy pedal. Here is a link that you might find impressive. This guy has got it going on. He is using the Minuteman for his delay effects in "Bueautiful Day". Great rendition of that music anyway. Hope you enjoy. The link is found below. In case you havent seen the the 4 part interview with the edge in the studio that can be easily found on Youtube. That's my 2 cents worth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrYJ8cYJa6c

Fantastic site. Question...I am using a TC Nova Delay at the end of my chain. Currently I run out of the stereo outputs to two amps- a '59 Bassman LTD and a Blues Junior Limited Ed. I'm adding a Deluxe Memory man (for the shorter delays?) and wondering the following...for two delays (Streets, etc) should I run the delays to a dedicated amp and lose the stereo capability of the TC Delay (for panning, etc) or use a splitter somehow. All feedback appreciated!! Warren in New England

I wanted to say thank you! This is a very good representation of Edge's work. I think the biggest part above all of the delay settings is the cook behind the kitchen. What I mean is that, the strumming padderns (which you have) are just as important. I use a DigiTech DigiDelay Digital Delay Pedal. In all actuality for live purposes I like the convience of tap delay. Lets face it U2 are about feeling and living in the momment. I really wanted to thank you again. I Friend of mine (thanks Paul) introduced me to your site. I have yet to see someone do their homework as well as you have. Great Job Peace, Isaiah

Tim, What an awesome site! I often refer to this site to help me dial in my settings while practicing. Your site has encouraged me to begin my own web site and I've proudly placed your site on my front page. Its a work in progress of course. http://sites.google.com/site/playingguitarwithanedge/ Looking forward to more updates regarding their new album!

Hi Edgers, I have a situation here. I have never played organized music before. So parden my ignorance. Let's say we have several stomp boxes and expression pedals all looped together to the amp. Let's say they are pedals A B C D E. I only want Pedal A and C to operate for a pictular song or tune. Next tune I only want pedals C D and E. I am sure there are devices made that you could run your effects pedals to, and select which effect or how many effects you want to use by pressing a switch. Knowing a little about current flow, I would imagine the effects pedals would have to run IN to a multi switched device first and then OUT to the amp. Any information would be a big help. Thanks in advance. William

here's a tip... You gotta be the edge to sound like him. Seriously. The edge could make an acoustic replicate his delayed sound or at least sound uniquely edge-like. In the right hands a memory man ANALOG delay and a bit of chorus and a Vox AC30 is all you need and will get you close enough. That and you better have the ear and skills to hear the delay in the mix and adjust as ness. or its just mush. Remember, Memory Man is your friend...

I've got a Digitech DigiDelay and I can get a great The Edge tone out of it with these settings! Great for "Streets" Level Repeats Time Mode 5:Modulation Delay 2:30 8:30 1:00 o'clock p.s. 2:30 is half way between 2 and 3. The same with 8:30, between 8 and 9 o'clock.

Tim, not only have you done an incredible job explaining The Edge's remarkable techniques and tricks, but it is also incredible research. The fact that you have explained Edges's tricks in such depth is incredible. I have been a heavy musician for the last five years and over the last three years I have become incredibly influenced by U2 and Edge's sound. To me, two of U2's greatest works are "Where the streets have no name" and "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." I'll tell you what, you have given me some more knowledge and insight to help me not necessarily mimic Edge's sound, but get a sound close that's of my own and something that will help me bring a really radical and original sound to the band that I'm in at this present time. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and research with us. Please fell free to share any other research about bands and interesting music information with all of us. David Ives Winter Park, FL

As a U2 fan since 1981 and living in the same city where they grew up, I have always been fascinated with all of the band, especially the sound that Edge gets. My particular favourite would be the delay settings on streets, bad and I still haven't found - although I maintain to this day that the guitar solo that stands out from the Edge's ouvre would be the solo from Another Time Another Place. Anyway, thanks for this site, and the A/B examples of Edge's riff's with and without delay. This is like getting excited about beginning guitar all over again - thank you!

its amazing - you think you have this stuff worked out but then you come back to it and go - there's something i haven't heard before. My baffle this time round is regarding streets. on the demo mp3, when the delay starts cutting in you can here the "d" note repeat one time, but then none of the other notes do at that volume. its like someone has played an extra part just hitting that one note over and over and over... is there anyother way? peace out!

Edge is great. You can't deny it. He is my biggest influence. I've only been playing for 4 years so I have much more to go but I feel like I have achieved so much! And it's thanks to guitarists like The Edge. Is he the best guitar player to walk the earth? No, but he has a HUGE impact in music. Some people have asked me who's my favorite guitar player and I clearly say "The Edge of U2". Sometimes I get weird faces and comments. To those people, who do you look up to? Crazy soloing people who think that just because they can play a thousand notes in one second? That's fun but it get's old after a while and I think it's a showoff-y type of thing. I'd also like to thank this site so very very much! A great help it's been. I've been using delay in about 85% of the songs that I've written and I'd say that without delay and other effects it's basically impossible to create those textures. And anyone who thinks delay just covers up the mistakes, think again. It repea!
ts them. And it's clearly audible if you strike a single note. Rant off now.LOL One more high five for this site!

First off, thank you so much for all of your research and effort into
decrypting The Edge's style and playing techniques. A unique player for
a unique-sounding band. I've only been able to decipher delayed (or
otherwise) riffs by ear, and badly at that. Using your guide, I was
able to set up two delays fairly close to your descriptions (They're set
by range, not specifically down to the millisecond-450-800 ms,
125-450ms, etc., and one is set by turning the knob-no markings!). I've
never attempted to even play an U2 songs because I could never set the
delay or echo to the right settings, but your info helped tremendously.
It even works for other songs and adds a new spin on them! Thanks
again!

To the comment back in November about getting Edge tones with a dd-20,
I'm in a U2 tribute band and I use one dd-20 to get my Edge delay
tones. I use the modulated delay feature on streets with a mix of
around 80%, feedback to maybe 20%, modulation depth to around 60, rate
to around 15, tempo of 127bpm (or just tap tempo when your drummer
inevitably speeds up the song!) For those of us who can't afford two
amps and two delay units, this gets quite close to the streets tone.
When I'm feeling lazy, I'll just tap tempo this exact setting to around
107bpm or so for pride and 101bpm for still haven't found.This is also
a decent setting for Bad. You can play around with the mix and the
modulation depth to dial in the tone further. (I'd maybe take down the
depth of the modulation for Pride). Long live the Edge!

Hi everyone. My tutorial for "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy
Tonight" is in production. Parts 1 through 8 are up on
U2GuitarTutorials on YouTube. I also have a website now:
www.u2guitartutorials.com. Michael

hello, im using a boss gt3 pedalboard and i need some help if u able to
help me, i need the shimmer effect,and i would like to make that effect
in my boss gt3 is that possible if so can u send me de patch ou the
presets for that plz, ty keep good job

nice work...mic'ing the rear of a speaker also and flipping the phase of
the back mic is quite common and gives you a much bigger picture
sonically(actually only mic'ing the front is only getting half the
sound)...obviously thats with open back designs only...also,may i submit
to you that the delay from your voice out of your mouth to your ears is
approx.4 ms...how one could even hear a delay of less than 10 ms.is
amazing to me and i am quite qualified in the audio production/recording
field...as well as being a live and studio guitarist.terrific research,
non the less!cheers.

Regarding the Edge's use of two delays on Where The Streets Have No ame,
here is a video clip of the Edge playing Streets: http://youtu.be/qcFjNpjGDrw
Can somoe ddo an analysis on this to determine whether there is a secod dellay or not (you can hear the delay repeats the clearest at0:335 when he stops playig))?

I think back to the early 80's when I was trying to emulate the sound - no ineernet, Youtube, Google...you were on your own. It was only whe II would catch them live that certain aspects of his playing bccame clearer, like the parallel/tandem harmonic strikes at the beginning of rrid.

so I'm basically and idiot when it comes to this stuff and don't know what any of this means I'm justt learning all this stuff haha. in laymen's terms he is taking two delays, splitting tem to two amps, which in return they are essentially stacked? at the same timejust longeer repeats

The single best resource to understand The Edge on the Internet, period. Temmastery of the edge lies in his deep understanding of the delay effect. It dossn't matter if this article is presenting exactly what the edg ddoes, we can count on some "professional" media to interview he eedge to help us learn about his secrets? Or we can just Goole it and surprisingly and happily to find article(s) like thi(by far thiis is the only one I can find) from "amateurs" who ae enthusiastiic and generous enough to write such great article and made it available to everyone else in the world who has access to the Inteneet

Thank you, sir, for creating such a comprehensive aand selfless resource.
I've just set out on a journey of trying to emulate my childhood guitar hero with the new Korg sdd-3000.
Your beautifully detailed description has given me an informative shortcut to a dream sound.